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By RICHARD FURMAN. 

*1 



CHARLESTON, S. C. 

S. G. COURTENAY & CO. PUBLISHERS; 

No. 9 Broad Street. 

1859. 






Entered according to act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty- 
nine, by 

S. G. COURTENAY & CO. 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of South Carolina, Charleston. 



In Exchange 
Dulie University 
AUG 1 9 ^ 36 



WALKER. EVANS & CO., PRINTERS, 

No. 3 Broad-street. 



CONTENTS. 



^S5» 



PAGB 

THE PLEASURES OF PIETY— Part I, ... - 7 

THE PLEASURES OF PIETY— Part II, 45 

THE PLEASURES OF PIETY— Part III, - - - 81 
LINES WRITTEN ON THE DEATH OF HON. J. C. 

CALHOUN, ---------- 123 

FROM THE ITALIAN OF METASTASIO, - - 127 

EPITAPH ON W. M. F. .128 

LINES ON THE DEATH OF J. C. F. - - - 130 

THE RETURN OF SPRING, 136 

THE MARTYR, - 138 

THE STREAMLET, THE ZEPHYR, - - - - 142 

DIES IRAE, (a new translation,) ..... 144 
LINES SUGGESTED BY A VIEW FROM THE BASE 

OF TABLE ROCK, 149 

DYING HYMN, (from the Latin of Musculus,) - - 153 

ADIEU TO BRITAIN, 156 



IV CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

THE STORM AT SEA, ....... 159 

THE SABBATH, - 165 

SONG 168 

THE VISION, - ... 171 

THE SHEPHERD'S LAMENT, 174 

COUNT UGOLINE, (from the Divina Commedia of Dante,) 178 

LINES ON THE DEATH OF MISS A. P., - 185 



€\t Mt&mxts of li% 



,c Cio. ch : io vedeya, mi sembrava un riso 

Dell 'Universo 

O gioia ! O ineffabile allegrezza ! 
O vita intera d'amore, e di pace ! 
O sanza brama sicura ricchezza ! " 
La Divina Commedia di Dante. 

Del Paradiso, Canto xxvii. 



(M 



Ituuxti of IJhig. 



ANALYSIS. 

The Poem opens with, an allusion to the three exquisite 
Poems on the Pleasures of Memory, of Hope, and of the Ima- 
gination ; Invocation of the Muse from Zion's Hill; the Pleasures 
of Piety contrasted with those of Hope, of Memory, and of 
the Imagination. 

The Pleasures of Piety commenced in the Garden of Eden. 
This leads to an allusion to the creation of the world, the 
choice of Eden as the abode of man, and the happiness of 
Adam and Eve in their primitive state ; and also to their fall, 
and the provisions made for the restoration of the race of man 
in the redemption of Christ. 

The Pleasures of Christian Piety begin with repentance ; they 
largely accompany the exercise of faith ; description oi the 
home, the pursuits, and the pleasures of a pious peasant. 



Vlll ANALYSIS. 

The Pleasures which spring from Obedience, illustrated in 
the baptism of a young convert ; the mournful Pleasures 
which attend the observance of the Lord's Supper ; the Pleasures 
of Social "Worship ; description of a Prayer Meeting, which sug- 
gests an allusion to a departed Christian friend. 

The Pleasures which are found in the Labours of Piety, illus 
trated in the case of the pious mother ; allusion to the mother 
of Doddridge ; the faithful Pastor ; Piety enlarges the heart, and 
urges to an increased energy in the labours of Philanthropy ; 
John Howard; the Missionary; allusion to Judson. 



%\t Iteitm of li% 



PART I. 



While some to Helicon's fair summit soar, 
Imagination's Pleasures to explore; 
While others, in the charms of classic verse, 
The pleasant dreams of Memory rehearse, 
Or paint Hope's magic visions that arise 
Like stars to gild life's darkly-lowering skies: — 
In humbler strains of Piety I sing, 
And to her shrine my earliest tribute bring. 
Oh Muse, who, erst from Zion's holy hill 

Wast wont, like dew, thine influence to distill ; 

To whose chaste ministry alone 'twas given 



10 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

To illume the soul of man with light from heaven, 
From whom the prophets caught their holy fire — 
By whom instructed David touched the lyre — 
From whose pure urn Isaiah drew the flame 
That round his view in splendid visions came, 
Attuned his harp to an immortal strain, 
And sung the glories of Messiah's reign: — 
From thy pure heights, like Hermon's dew descend, 
And to the Bard thy genial influence lend — 
His heart detach from aught beneath the throne, 
And rivet to the truth of God alone. 
Impress his lips with a celestial fire, 
His heart affect, his humble lay inspire! 

Thy charms, blest Piety, not often sung, 
Call for the softness of an angel's tongue; 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 11 

The dialect of earth can ne'er portray 
The joys that strew thy heaven-aspiring way. 
While Memory recalls the smiles and tears, 
The joys and sorrows of departed years; 
While pleasures, short-lived as the meteor's beams', 
Are flitting through Imagination's dreams ; 
While Hope, high-poised on her delusive wings, 
A bright enchantment round the future flings — 
Calm contemplation in thy bosom reigns, 
And points the way to Truth's etherial plains. 
With thee dwell charity, and peace of mind, 
By heavenly converse strengthened and refined ; 
Thine is a rest from passion, pride and strife, 
A calm, unruffled by the surging waves of life. 

Thy sacred pleasures, Piety, began 



12 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

In the primeval innocence of man. 

From other scenes, Oh Muse, thy thoughts recall, 

And briefly sing of joys before the Fall. 

Before the everlasting hills were reared, 
Or heaven's high battlements sublime appeared, 
When darkness gloomy sat on boundless space, 
The Lord Jehovah reigned. His dwelling-place 
Was all immensity. Beamed in his face 
The glories of unspotted holiness ; 
His hand the sceptre universal swayed, 
And round his throne eternal splendours played. 
At His command unnumbered worlds came forth, 
Peopling the East and West, and South and North. 
The sun, bright regent, 'neath his Maker's sway, 
In blazing grandeur took the throne of day : 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 13 

His rays the sable power of night controlled, 
And lit the lesser orbs that round him rolled. 
The morning stars with songs made melody. 
And all the sons of God cried out for joy. 
Eternity entranced their music heard, 
And echoed far the praises of the Lord. 

Near to the throne there was a spot of fame, 
For bliss, ere yet the cursed serpent came ; 
A garden fair, a place of God beloved, 
In which celestial spirits often moved, 
Inhaled ambrosial odours from the grove, 
And lingering long discoursed on heavenly love. 
A crystal stream of living waters wound 
Its way through Eden's consecrated ground : 
From its green banks umbrageous trees arose, 



14 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Bearing perennial fruits, and from whose boughs 
The feathered minstrels of the grove carolled 
Their lays of joy — displaying plumes of gold; 
While breezes procreant with their dulcet strains 
Conveyed soft music o'er the etherial plains. 
JSo sickly fens, nor noxious winds were there, 
Diffusing breath of poison through the air. 
Dim twilight ne'er prevailed, there was no night, 
A sun celestial gave the garden light: 
That sun, whose rays in ceaseless splendour sent, 
Illumed and bless'd the wide-spread firmament — 
Dispelled the mists that rose from earth, and poured 
On all around the glory of the Lord. 

Amidst those scenes of bliss, surpassing fair, 
There dwelt in innocence a blessed pair, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 15 

In mind or form adorned with every grace, 

The germ — the primal parents of our race. 

Strangers to sin and all the forms of woe, 

None of the griefs they knew which we now know; 

Disease ne'er smote them with its withering breath, 

Nor were they haunted with the fears of death. 

Untutored in the ways by man since trod, 
Adam and Eve in Eden walked with God: 
In the large benefits which crowned them there, 
They saw the tokens of his constant care. 
To Him, their life, their joys, their all, they owed, 
To Him, their hearts in love responsive flowed; 
Their meditations clustered round His throne, 
And all their bliss was found in God alone. 
Roaming through Eden's consecrated bowers, 



16 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



In sweet discourse, they whiled away the hours ; 
Discourse of virtue, God, and heave.nl y love, 
Like that of angels in the courts above. 
And oft with mingled voices, soft and strong, 
Their love and joy break forth in grateful song; 
High in the praise of God, their notes they raise, 
And fill the groves with their melodious lays. 

Oh ! blessed state of innocence and peace ! 
Destined, alas! too soon, through sin, to cease ; 
On all thy loveliness, in fury fell, 
The Devil's malice, and the rage of Hell. 
The pious pleasures, which in thee began, 
Were crushed and ruined in the fall of man. 
The rebels from the seats of bliss were hurled, 
And sin and death assumed the empire of the world. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 17 

But, 'midst the scenes of sin, and death, and woe, 
Which mark our journey through the world below, 
Thy pleasures, heaven-born Piety, abound; 
In thee, a solace for our griefs is found — 
Amidst the storms that rock the world, thine eye 
Looks calmly to a home beyond the sky. 
And these new hopes we owe to sovereign grace — 
In love and pity to our ruined race, 
The great Redeemer left his native throne, 
To earth, rebellious, fallen, lost, came down; 
Obeyed for us, and suffered in our stead, 
Was crucified, and laid amongst the dead, 
Came forth a victor from the vanquished grave, 
Proving his power to justify and save — 
Then sent the messengers of grace abroad, 
And rose in splendid triumph to the throne of God. 



18 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



The pleasures of true Piety begin 
When with a godly grief, we mourn for sin ; 
All merit in the sight of God disclaim, 
And plead for mercy in the Saviour's name. 
Burdened with guilt, the sinner prostrate lies 
Before the mercy-seat; repentant sighs 
Break from his heart, as all his guilt appears, 
And sorrow gushes forth in streaming tears. 
Sweet are those sighs; those tears, though sad, are 

sweet 1 
As Mary's were, which bathed the Saviour's feet: 
More pleasure to the soul repentance brings 
Than all the wealth and dignity of kings. 



When by the power of faith, we grasp the cross, 
And for the love of Christ count all things loss; 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 19 

Trembling, the comfort of his promise take, 
And hope for peace and pardon for his sake, 
What bless'd emotions in our bosoms swell ! 
With what strange wonder on his love we dwell! 
Undreamed-of glories break upon our view, 
Old things are passed away, and all is new; 
New graces deck the Saviour's form divine, 
New charms and beauties in the Gospel shine, 
New scenes spring up, above, beneath, around, 
And e ? en on earth we tread on heavenly ground. 

Faith opens to our view the land afar, 
Where God, and Christ, and saints, and angels are; 
And through the misty vale that intervenes, 
Allures us on to those inviting scenes. 
Faith drives away the clouds of doubt and gloom, 



20 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



And throws a hopeful halo o'er the tomb : 
Faith vanquishes hell's hostile powers; in grief 
Turns to the source of comfort and relief; — 
Mighty, through God, to nerve, protect, defend, 
It guides, and guards, and cheers us to the end- 
Proclaims its triumph with our latest breath, 
And makes us victors in the strife with death. 



In yonder copse, secluded from mankind, 
To heaven's appointments, patiently resigned, 
A stranger to inconstant Fortune's spells, 
The pious peasant of the valley dwells. 
His home, a cottage neat, embowered in green, 
Commands the soft enchantments of tire scene. 
A limpid lake sleeps near, fed by a rill 
That pours its murmurs from a neighbouring hill. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 21 

In distance dim, gigantic mountains rise, 
And lose their verdant summits in the skies; 
While fragrance fresh, such as Arcadia yields, 
In every zephyr breathes along the fields. 
The swain, unoccupied with common cares, 
Calmly descends the deepening vale of years. 
The dear companion of his lonely hours 
Bestrews his path with love's unfading flowers, 
While a young circle, innocent and fair, 
Reflect the virtues of the honest pair. 
No hopes of glory agitate his breast, 
No thoughts of wealth disturb his hours of rest 
The day in meditative toil he spends, 
And when the sable reign of night descends, 
Revives his frame, till morning's earliest beams, 
In placid slumbers, and in pleasing dreams. 



22 



PLEASURES OF PIETY 



When Lucifer's bright rays the East adorn, 

Precursive of the rosy-footed morn, 

The shepherd, with his dog and crook, and shell, 

Drives forth his flock to browse upon the dell ; 

And oft awakes, with love-enkindling strains, 

The plaintive sighs of mountains, groves and plains, 

On earth beneath, and in the spheres above, 

He sees the works of wisdom, power, and love ; 

Surveys with holy gratitude the plan 

Devised by grace to rescue fallen man — 

And as his lowing flocks he patient leads 

Beside cool waters and in verdant meads, 

Bethinks him of that Shepherd's care who gave 

His precious life the wandering sheep to save ; 

And, in faith's raptured eye, before him rise 

The living streams and pastures of the skies. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 23 

While such bless'd themes his grateful thoughts 

employ. 
His heart swells with an unknown wealth of joy. 



Such, shepherds, was your joy when angels came 
The first notes of the Gospel to proclaim. 
In shining bands, they hovered over earth, 
And told the story of Messiah's birth ; 
While harping hallelujahs, long and loud, 
Echoed to heaven from that resplendent cloud, 
The mystic star arose, and led your way 
To the lone manger where the blessed Infant lay. 

The laws and precepts in God's word are given, 
Which mark the way of life, and lead to heaven, 
And while our varied duties they display, 



24 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



'Tis ours, with cheerful ardor, to obey. 

This is our life; thus shall obedience be 

At once the joy and proof of Piety. 

Each child of grace, from blest experience knows 

What Christian pleasure from obedience flows. 

Such pleasure David in obedience saw, 



When he exclaimed, "Oh! how I love thy law! 



t> 



Thus, when an earthly father's lips impart 
Instruction to the offspring of his heart, 
With care the seed of Piety he sows, 
And warm affection in his language glows. 
The fondly-loved, with heart-felt reverence, hears 
A father's voice, and all his words reveres; 
While kindling smiles his tender thoughts disclose, 
From his young heart love in a larger current flows. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 25 

Lo ! in obedience to his Lord's commands. 
Beside the stream the youthful convert stands, — 
A wanderer late in dark and dangerous ways, 
But now a trophy of victorious grace — • 
In all the beauty and the bloom of youth, 
Ashamed of sin, but glorying in the truth, 
With meek humility, he comes to claim, 
Before a scoffing world, the Saviour's name. 
To God, the voice of prayer and praise ascends; 
The multitude a calm attention lends, 
A deep solemnity sits on each mien. 
And heaven comes down, and smiles upon the 

scene. 
Hushed are the strains— with solemn step and slow, 
Down, down into the sacred stream they go, 
To heaven the pastor turns his earnest sight, 



26 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



Ancl speaks the words of the baptismal rite; 
Then gently lays the subject 'neath the wave; 
The waters close, symbolic of the grave; 
But as the dead shall rise at Gabriel's call, 
The new-baptized comes from his burial — 
He comes in purity, by Jesus' blood, 
His sins all washed, as by a cleansing Hood. 
He comes in peace, which God alone inspires; 
He comes inflamed with love's seraphic fires; 
He comes in joy, whose sweeping currents roll 
In overflowing sweetness through the soul. 
And from his memory ne'er shall pass away 
The blessedness of his baptismal day. 

Eunuch of old, such blessedness was thine, 3 
Honouring thy Saviour in the rite divine, 






PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



27 



When rising thus, in emblem, from the dead, 
A holy influence from the throne was shed — ■ 
Unearthly peace, infused, reigned in thy breast, 
God smiled, conscience approved, and thou wast blest. 
Thus didst thou taste of heavenly bliss below, 
And with rejoicing on thy homeward journey go. 



Obedient to the Saviour's last command, 
Oft round his table meet the Christian band; 
And there in melting tenderness they wait, 
The death of their blest Lord to celebrate. 
What scenes of grief and love before them rise, 
What penitential streams gush from their eyes, 
While lingering near the cross, they lowly bend, 
And view the sufferings of their heavenly friend. 
The bread sets forth his body broke for sin; 



28 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



His blood poured out is shadowed by the wine; 

By faith, the sacred mystery they learn, 

And thus the body of the Lord discern : 

Back to that mournful night their memory goes, 

When he was seized, betrayed to treacherous foes, 

Forsaken by his friends, by sinners tried, 

Condemned, and sentenced to be crucified ; 

And on that day they sadly muse, when he 

Hung bleeding, dying, on the cursed tree — 

When Justice round his head in thunder broke, 

And buried in his heart its vengeful stroke. 
And while his pierced hands, and smitten side, 

Sent forth, in generous wealth, redemption's tide, 

A voice, that rocked the world, and shook the sun, 

Proclaimed aloud that Love's triumphant work was 

done. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 29 

While all these scenes rush back upon their view, 
The sweet memorials of his love renew 
Their faith, their hope, their love, their joy, their 

zeal; 
A mournful pleasure round the feast they feel— 
Their own base sins and follies they deplore, 
But joy in Him who lives forevermore; 
And on anticipation's wings they rise 
To the sublime communion of the skies. 
Oh ! earth, thy hoarded wealth can ne'er afford 
Such rich delights as crown the Saviour's board! 



'Tis eve — daylight has faded from the eye, 
The moon and stars are shining in the sky; 
The active tribes of earth their labours close, 
And wearied Nature sinks into repose. 



30 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

The solemn shades, the calm that reigns abroad, 
Invite to thoughts of holiness and God. 
The bell, in tones inviting, loud and clear, 
Pours forth its summons to the house of prayer. 
They come, the social band, in converse sweet, 
Each other and their gracious Lord to meet; 
The anxious cares of earth depart the while, 
Nor empty dreams of good the hours beguile. 
A crown of joy for each the Master wreaths, 
And on them all his holy influence breathes. 
In sweetest harmony their voices blend, 
As one, their mingled prayers and praise ascend — 
The charms of earth evanish from their view, 
They feast on pleasures heart-felt, rich and true ; — 
Each contrite breast the Holy Ghost inspires 
With high affections, and with pure desires, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



And all their hearts in sweet communion flow 



With Christ above, and with his saints below. 



A king, who, ? midst the splendours of the throne, 4 
The pleasures of true Piety had known. 
Preferred a menial's place, God's house within, 
To all the gorgeous palaces of sin. 

Nor let the lay of the discursive Muse 
A passing tribute to a friend refuse; 
Whose mouldering form now sleeps beneath the sod, 
Whose disembodied spirit rests with God. 
In humble life, with humble gifts endowed, 
Prized by but few, neglected by the crowd, 
Thy even course of Piety was run, 
And brightly closed, as it in light begun. 



32 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



Thou lov'dst the house of God; there in his sight, 
To meet his saints was thy extreme delight. 
Bending beneath the weight of numerous years, 
E'en now thy venerable form appears, 
As faint and slow thy tottering footsteps trod 
The way that led thee to the house of God. 
Others might weary at her courts to wait, 
Thy heart was set to Zion's beauteous gate — 
And at all times and seasons thou wast there, 
We never missed thee from the house of prayer. 
And when disease assailed thy feeble frame, 
And death's loud summons to thy spirit came — 
When we beheld thee, stricken, sinking, weak, 
And thou, through feebleness, could'st scarcely 

speak, 
When thy worn body was convulsed with pain, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



33 



And when the burning fever racked thy brain — 
Thy fondest thoughts to Zion still were turned, 
Her love unquenched within thy bosom burned — 
Thy waking thoughts, and dreamy musings dwelt 
On joys which in her precincts thou hadst felt. 
Thus round her courts thy lingering spirit staid. 
And for her peace thy latest prayer was made. 

Mother in Israel, thy work is done ! 
We saw, without a cloud, thy setting sun — ■ 
And now with purer light its rays expand 
Amidst the glories of the heavenly land. 



The works of Piety are doubly blest, 
'Midst outward toils they yield an inward rest. 
In all our aims to glorify the Lord, 



34 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



We find true pleasure, and a rich reward. 

See yonder mother clasping in her arms 

Her infant boy, decked with a thousand charms : 

When first the lovely stranger nestled there, 

She gave him back to God by faith and prayer; 

And while she views, with pride and pleasure 

joined, 

His growth in form — the progress of his mind — 

With deeper care and with a warmer zeal, 

She daily thinks of his eternal weal — 

Plants in the tender soil of his young heart 

The seeds of truth, whose germ shall ne'er depart : — 
But gathering strength, and growing with his growth, 

Shall yet the fruits of righteousness bring forth. 

In these sweet toils, which oft her time employ, 

She finds her duty and her highest joy. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 35 

So have we seen the parent bird, imbued 
With fond affection, hovering o'er her brood. 
The eager cries from the parental nest 
With deep solicitude inspire her breast. 
The product of her anxious search she brings 
With fluttering haste, and swiftly-waving wings ; 
And to each tiny mouth its portion yields 
Of stores nutritious, gleaned from distant fields. 

Mother of Doddridge, now methinks I see 5 

Thy bright-eyed boy reclining on thy knee — 

With childhood's eager look, and witching smiles, 

Scanning the old Dutch hearth, whose pictured 
tiles 

Historic scenes of Scripture life portray 

In homely forms, and grouped in dense array. 



36 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Though early of a mother's care bereft, 

That mother's image on his heart was left. 

The truth repeated with maternal care 

Ne'er faded from his mind — God heard the prayer 

For him so often breathed, and answer gave 

Long after thou wast carried to the grave. 

The rich instruction from thy lips he drew 

In after years to precious harvests grew — 

Impressed his heart, inspired his lordly mind, 

And made his life a blessing to mankind. 

The faithful pastor, 'midst his weighty cares, 
In pleasures pure and holy largely shares. 
The grace of Christ which he to others tells, 
In his own soul with richest comfort dwells. 
And when the guilty heart with grief is stirred, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 37 

And the deep sigh of penitence is heard — 
When weeping and rejoicing converts haste, 
In duty's path, the Christian's joys to taste — 
When the pure fruits of godliness increase, 
And all is union, charity and peace — 
His heart, with deep humility imbued, 
Expands with love, and joy, and gratitude. 
In these refreshing scenes at last appears 
The fruit of his long labours, prayers and tears — 
He gives to God the praise for these blest spoils, 
And with new vigor urges on his toils. 

True Piety delights in toil, — expands 
The heart, and finds new labor for the hands. 
Its homage first to God is given, and then 
Its active efforts to the good of men. 



38 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

It scans the circuit wide of human woes, 
And meekly on its angel errand goes. 

Howard, such Piety inspired thy breast 9 
With genuine sympathy for the distressed, 
Its standard o'er thy lustrous course unfurled, 
And sent thee forth to bless a suffering world. 
Thine eye, with yearning in its glance, surveyed 
The wide-spread havoc misery had made; 
Thy pity compassed in its large embrace 
The tears and sorrows of the human race ; 
Thy mercy on no trifling mission went, 
Its only bound Humanity's extent! 
Nought checked thee in thy course, thy journey lay 
Through regions hidden from the light of day. 
In scenes where vice had thrown her darkest spells 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 39 

In dreary dungeons, and infected cells,, 
Where squalid crime its dismal orgies kept, 
Or poverty, in chains, forever wept — 
Thy form is seen, warm tears bedim thine eye, 
Thy pity heaves the sympathizing sigh — 
Thy heart bleeds o'er the children of distress, 
And all thy nature gushes forth to bless. 

Illustrious friend of man ! to man endeared, 
Thy deeds the noblest monument have reared ; 
That monument more beauteous to behold 
Than brazen cenotaph or shrine of gold, 
And more enduring — round whose base entwined, 
Cluster the sweet affections of mankinds 
When the great names of conquerors and kings 
Have sunk to night, with earth's forgotten things — 



40 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

When the proud pile that wealth or glory rears 
Has mouldered in the grave of long-past years — 
Thy memory still shall bloom in verdant hues, 
Crowned with warm sunshine, and with genial 

dews ; 
And down to latest years thy name shall be 
First in the records of Philanthropy ! 

Lo, prompted by the love of Christ and souls, 
(That mighty impulse which his life controls,) 
The Missionary leaves his native shore, 
His friends, and kindred, to return no more. 
Launching upon the bosom of the waves, 
The perils of the stormy deep he braves, 
And courts the breeze that bears him far away 
To regions where idolatry holds sway. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 41 

There, 'midst the rigours of the frozen hills, 

Or where the Southern sun his heat distils, 

While nature revels in her foulest stains, 

And moral night in densest horror reigns, — 

His battle-field the Christian warrior sees, 

And spreads his banners wide to every breeze. 

And though in that far land he toil and roam, 

Cut off from all the charms of Christian home — 

And though his bosom oft with sorrow swell 

O'er evils which he has no power to quell — 

In self-denying labors, such as these, 

He finds an inward calm, a reigning peace, 

More precious than the gift of friends, or health, — 

More precious than the glory and the wealth 

Of her who, crowned with fortune's favoring smiles, 

Sways her proud sceptre o'er the British Isles. 



42 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Judson, we think of thee, dear friend of man ! 
Beloved of God! 'Twas thine to lead the van, 
In early life, of that divine crusade 
Which 'gainst idolatry our land has made. 
In all thy sacrifices, labours, pains, 
Almighty grace thy trusting heart sustains. 
What chastened pleasure fills thy longing soul, 
When the first Burman bows to Christ's control ! 
And though by those thou earnest to guide to rest 
Imprisoned, injured, bound in chains, oppressed, 
The peace of God in thy calm bosom dwells 
In Ava's towers, or 'midst Oung-Pen-La's horrid 
cells. 



Thy work is done, and thou art gone to meet 
Thy Burman converts at the Saviour's feet. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



43 



Through time the fragrance of thy memory 
Fresh as the earliest flowers of Spring shall be. 
And though in depths unknown thy body sleeps/ 
Where no carved stone its mournful vigil keeps,— 
Sweet is thy sleep — thy waking, oh how sweet, 
When Gabriel's piercing call thine ear shall greet, 
(Heard by the dead, 'neath every sod or wave,) 
And thou shalt rise immortal from thine Ocean- 



grave 



Clje Measures of lielg. 



PART II. 



ANALYSIS. 

Apostrophe to Piety. — Pleasures of Meditation upon the works 
of God in nature, and especially in grace, as illustrating His boundless 
and glorious perfections. Isaac meditates in the evening, and meets 
Rebekah coming from Padan Aram. 

Communion with God; its elevating tendency; its power to tran- 
quilize and give pleasure in the most trying circumstances. Paul and 
Silas singing and praying, at midnight, in prison. John banished to 
the Isle of Patmos, where he holds elevated communion with God, 
and writes the Book of Revelation. Bunyan in Bedford jail. The 
effect of his imprisonment in Pilgrim's Progress. 

The Bible given by Divine inspiration, for the illumination of man- 
kind. Pleasures connected with the study of the Bible. 

Pleasures derived from communion with the gifted and the pious 
dead, through the works which they have bequeathed to the Church. 

Pleasures of Christian Friendship. Allusion to the late lamented 
Professor Mims. 



%\t Measure of Iflktg. 



PART II. 



Hail, Piety, blest theme! to thee belong 
The noblest flights of eloquence and song. 
The varied wealth of thy exhaustless stores, 
The human mind from age to age explores. 
But, oh, how vain our laboured aims to reach, 
A theme transcending human thought or speech! 
Here genius, fancy, learning, glowing zeal, 

m 

Exhaust their powers — nor half thy worth reveal 
And who, in prose or verse, descants on thee, 
But skims the margin of a boundless sea. 
Upon that sea I steer my little sail, 



)-:- 



48 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Scarce loosed from shore — oh, might some gracious 

gale 
Inspire, and bear me onward to survey 
The goodly prospect, stretching far away! 

'Tis sweet, in evening's soft and silent hour, 
Amidst the calm of shaded walk or bower, 
When earthly sounds have died upon the ear, 
And Nature's works a mellowed livery wear, 
'Tis sweet to meditate, in such an hour, 
The works of God — his wisdom, love, and power. 
The heavens declare his glory, and each star 
Bespeaks his wonders, twinkling from afar. 
The sun and moon, alternate regents, sway 
The skies, — the one by night, the one by day. 
Ten thousand worlds, apparent to the eye, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 49 



/ 



In glorious concert, move along the sky; 
Beyond, ten thousand times ten thousand more, 
Which only disembodied minds explore, 
Shine in their spheres, and mingled pseans roll 
To him who in one empire binds the whole. 

On earth, in softer lineaments, we trace 
The foot-prints of benevolence and grace. 
The works of Nature, all around, declare 
The high control, the providential care, 
The fixed design, the wisdom deep and broad, 
Which illustrate the government of God. 
But chiefly love, that attribute divine, 
Doth in his dealings with his creatures shine. 
Love made us in his image — stamped our mien 
With God-like grace, with innocence serene; 



50 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



And kindled in our souls the holy fire 
Of sweet affection, and of pure desire. 
And when, through sin, we lost our first abode, 
Love still pursued us in our downward road, 
Fixed in this beauteous world, our present home, 
And wooed us back to taste of joys to come. 
Here, in Probation's favored vale, we stand — 
Rich streams of mercy flow on every hand. 
Each day exalts God's bounties to the skies, 
Each night, in strains responsive, loud replies; 
While Nature's vast and various works conspire 
To swell the chorus of the general choir. 
The cattle, lowing, on a thousand hills, 
The valleys, watered by a thousand rills, 
The towering mountains, and the waving woods, 
The wide-spread prairies, and the sounding floods, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 51 

All shout aloud to God, with mingled voice 
Declare His praise, and in His name rejoice. 

But chiefly in Redemption, Lord, we see 
The work of love, and our vast debt to thee. 
What strange compassion moved thine only Son 
To bear the weight of wrongs which we had done ! 
What high amazement thrilled through heaven that 

day, 
When Deity arrayed himself in clay, — 
The long-predicted work of grace began, 
And gave himself to mercy and to man ! 
Through varied scenes of poverty and tears, 
What wondrous love in all his life appears ! 
God's glory and the good of man we trace 
In all his mighty works and words of grace. 



52 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

But oh ! what grief intense, what love divine, 

In the last drama of his life combine! 

What strange and deeper wonder fills the skies, 

When Jesus makes the crowning sacrifice! 

High on the cross the guileless sufferer hangs, 

His soul convulsed with more than mortal pangs, — 

All agony without, all grief within, 

He gives himself a sacrifice for sin. 

In solitary woe he bleeds and groans, 

And by his death, for human guilt atones — 

With his last breath proclaims the prisoners free, 

And nails our bondage to the cursed tree. 

Oh, love transcending human thought! my theme, 
My boast, my wonder, and my joy supreme — 
All earthly love, o'ermatched, surpassed, retires, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 53 



And sinks to shade before thy brilliant fires. 
Here fix the deep affections of my soul : 
Let all my being tend to this blest goal. 
Repentant, lowly, at thy feet I fall, 
And claim thee, Saviour, as my all in all, — 
Till life's cold and tempestuous ocean crossed, 
In thy pure love I am forever lost! 
Such sweet reflections fill that heart alone, 
Which grace controls, where Christ has built his 
throne. 



To meditate upon the works of God, 
At eve the son of Abraham walked abroad, 8 
His heart attuned to Nature's various frame; 
When lo ! a train from Padan Aram came, — 
His father's trusted servant, by whose side, 



54 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

In peerless beauty, rode his destined bride. 

And when Rebekah, from the servant, learned 

That Isaac was the stranger she discerned, 

With maiden grace she drew her robes around, 

And from the camel lighted on the ground; 

Advanced with trembling hopes and soft alarms, 

And with the veil concealed her blushing charms — 

While Isaac tenderly bespoke the fair, 

Who left her father's house his home to share: 

With joy received his heaven-appointed spouse 

To the dear bondage of connubial vows ; 

And welcomed to his bosom's faithful shrine 

The Pride and Beauty of old Nahor's honored line. 

In meek communion with the Lord, we find 
The highest, holiest pleasure of the mind. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 55 

E J en converse with the friends we love, destroys 

One-half our griefs, and heightens all our joys — 

Their hearts with sympathetic kindness glow, 

And share a portion in our bliss or woe. 

But higher far, the pleasure known to those 

Who all their joys and griefs to God disclose — ■ 

Who often to the Throne of Grace repair, 

And seek divine support in daily prayer, — 

And who, when beams of gladness crown their 

days, 

Speak forth their joy in songs of grateful praise. 

And will the Great Jehovah condescend 

A listening ear to human cries to lend ? 

And will He deign, in pity and in grace, 

To hold communion with our fallen race ? 

And shall a sinner, lost and ruined, dare 
3 



56 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

To speak to God in words of praise and prayer ? 
'Tis even so. From His own word we learn, 
His bowels with a father's pity yearn. 
Large promises abound on every page, 
Our fears to quell, our sorrows to assuage. 
He calls us to forsake our dangerous ways, 
And Heaven rejoices when the sinner prays. 

This holy intercourse with God prepares 
Us for the burden of life's common cares — 
Becalms our troubled hearts, our wills subdues, 
Dispels our gloom, our fainting strength renews, 
Imparts new vigor to our faith, and opes 
Fresh fields of glory to our christian hopes, 
A stream of light around our pathway pours, 
While joy triumphant sings, and love adores. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 57 

In sunny days, and prosperous times, 'tis sweet 
To talk with God before the mercy-seat — 
When borne on favouring fortune's highest tide, 
To cling more closely to the Saviour's side. 
And when the night our blasted prospects shrouds 
In gloomy darkness and portentous clouds, 
When scenes of joy are turned to scenes of woe, 
And adverse tempests rudely round us blow, — 
When our frail bark on heaving billows tossed, 
We almost number with the wrecked and lost: — 
Oh mortal, calm thy troubled heart ! 'Tis sweet 
To talk with God before the mercy-seat. 
His bosom yearns towards the suffering saint, 
He bends His ear attentive to thy plaint, 
His eye sees through the depths of thy distress, 
His hand, already, is stretched forth to bless, 



58 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



He knows thy frame— remembers thou art dust ; 
Believe His word, and in thy Saviour trust. 
So shall thy soul in perfect peace be stayed, 
Nor be by foes o'ercome, by fears dismayed — 
So shall thy joy its firm position keep, 
Amidst the heavings of life's troubled deep — 
So shall the storms that with thy vessel sport, 
But bear thee onward to thy destined port. 
Thus ancient saints the path to glory trod, 
And thus, by faith and prayer, we walk with God. 



'Tis midnight — clouds of darkness dense and 
dread, 
O'er all the dwellings of the world are spread. 
The din of men within Philippi's walls, 
Their sounding labors, and their drunken brawls 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 59 

Are hushed, for silence now dominion keeps 
And Nature, robed in gloom, profoundly sleeps. 
But hark! a sound unearthly charms the air, 
As though sweet angels sung their anthems there. 
Within a dungeon's damp and dismal cell, 
Where crime and wretchedness are wont to dwell 
Two men of God, in bonds for Jesus' sake, 
While others sleep, to sweet devotion wake ; 
Forgetting past afflictions, — present wrongs, 
To notes of praise they tune their hearts and tongues ; 
Amidst the pressure of their galling chains, 
And 'midst their recent stripes' inflicted pains, " 
A sense of heavenly love their bosom fills, 
A joy unwonted through their nature thrills, 
Their souls ascend on faith's unfettered wing, 
And Paul and Silas in their dungeon sing. 9 



60 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

So, at the opening of a summer day, 
The caged canary trills her gladsome lay, 
Exults in memory of other times, 
And sings of warmer sunshine and of brighter 
climes. 



The man beloved to lonely Patmos driven, 10 
For faithful witness, there communes with heaven. 
The vain and shadowy scenes of earth withdrawn, 
New fields of bliss upon his vision dawn. 
His bosom kindles with seraphic fires, 
His joy, new- winged, to loftier heights aspires — 
Things present sink to valleys in his eyes, 
While future scenes to towering mountains rise, 
Those mountains by the feet of angels trod, 
And radiant with the majesty of God. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 61 

He speaks in Jesus' hallowed name — each thought 
Inspired, and with poetic grandeur fraught. 
He paints in language, thrilling and sublime, 
The great events that mark the course of time : 
The devil's malice, and his final fall, 
The church through grace triumphant over all, 
Time's closing scene, the trump by Gabriel blown, 
And the dread splendours of the Judgment Throne. 

Lo! sundered from the converse of mankind, 11 
For twelve long years in Bedford jail confined, 
A lowly child of genius and of grace 
A trophy rears, which time shall ne'er deface. 
The living preacher's voice is hushed, but not 
The voice of noble and unfettered thought 
In that lone dungeon, Bunyan breathes the air, 



62 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Of a celestial clime, for God is there. 

The visits of Almighty grace console, » 

Expand, and strengthen his heroic soul. 

From all he loves on earth though sundered far, 

And kept by bolted door and iron bar, 

His genius rises on devotion's wings, 

And, soaring, with unwonted grandeur sings. 

Time-honoured Pilgrim's Progress, thee we hail ! 
The prison-born — the child of Bedford jail ! 
Thy lowly birth a larger praise demands, 
And makes thee now the wonder of all lands. 
The little child delighted cons thee o'er, 
And, reading often, but admires the more. 
In youth, in manhood's prime, in hoary age, 
With equal zest we linger on thy page — 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 63 

The learned and the rude find knowledge here, 
Cold critics praise, and stoics shed a tear. 
Such deep experience of the life within, 
Such pictures of the wretchedness of sin, 
Such glorious views of God and grace are given, 
As lift from earth, and lure the soul to heaven. 

The Pilgrim's course with minds absorbed we 
trace 
Through all the progress of his weary race: 
Pursue his steps, and on his journey wait, 
Tn Despond's Slough, or at the Wicket Gate, 
Beside the Cross, or in the gloomy dell 
Where fierce Appollyon's rage upon him fell, 
In Doubting Castle, on the Enchanted Ground, 
(The roll now lost, now with rejoicing found,) 



64 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

In Beulah's gladsome land, on those blest Hills 
Where sight of heaven the raptured vision fills ; — 
The cold descent into Death's dismal tide, 
And the triumphant rise on Glory's side ; — 
While angels to the river's brink come down, 
And, shouting, bear the Pilgrim to his crown. 

Immortal Dreamer! from thy sorrow's night 
Arose a beauteous orb of matchless light, 
Whose rays far-shot, in undecaying prime, 
Illume all ages, and enrich all time. 
That vile confinement and long solitude 
Man meant for ill, but God designed for good. 
While thus thy proud oppressors wrought their shame, 
They laid the basis of thy growing fame, 
And gave to immortality the Tinker's name ! 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 65 

The Bible, precious legacy to men 
From heaven, and writ by inspiration's pen, 
All glowing with celestial grace and power, 
Comes to sustain us in -each trying hour. 
Stamped with the fatherhood of God, these lines 
Teem with the grandeur of his high designs — 
In living light his attributes portray, 
And the deep wonders of his grace display,— 
Abound with doctrines, to confirm our trust ; 
With precepts, for the guidance of the Just ; 
With promises, life's darkness to illume ; — 
And shed their hallowed radiance o'er the tomb. 



Lives there a man in sin so deeply dyed, 
So lost to grace, to madness so allied, 
Who dares eternal vengeance to defy, • 



66 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

And brand these Sacred Scriptures as a lie? 

And to enlarge the measure of his shame, 

Seeks shelter 'neath Philosophy's proud name ? 

Poor, thin-brained Atheist, thy vile pratings cease, 

Nor longer stab thy bosom's only peace ! 

False science puffs thy heart, and sways thy school, 

And thy cold creed aloud proclaims the fool ! 

Far different he, whose heart and will subdued, 
With holy reverence for his God imbued, 
Receives the Bible as his life-long guide, 
And for its truth abandons all beside. 
The firm persuasion of its high descent, 
Deep-rooted, with his inmost soul is blent 
Though billows heave, and tempests howl without, 
His heart, unclouded by the shades of doubt, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 67 

Its treasured trust upon the Bible rears, 
Finds joy in grief, and smiles amidst its tears. 
Fresh wonders daily break upon his view, 
Its truths, though pondered oft, are always new ; 
The field of his survey in vastness grows, 
And all the scene with richer glory glows. 

Thus issuing forth from dungeon and from night, 
The long-imprisoned captive walks in light, 
Fair nature's panoramic charms entrance 
His wildered thoughts, and fix his eager glance. 
He triumphs in the sun's effulgent rays, 
And,with a bounding heart, the glorious scene surveys. 

Thrice-blessed Book ! oh let me ever seek 
My chief delight in truths which thou dost speak! 



68 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Here I would build my hopes, all else is vain, 
Instinct with death, and doomed to sorrow's reign. 
Companion of my journey, still to cheer 
My saddest hours, and quell each rising fear, 
To thee I look, o'er thy sweet promise bend, 
And claim thee as my bosom's dearest friend. 
Here light in darkness shines, here wisdom pours 
Her streams, enriched with heaven's redundant 

stores ; 
Here truth unlocks the portals of the sky, 
And opes immortal scenes to mortal eye; 
Here knowledge spreads her board, with bounty 

crowned; 
Where choicest viands for the soul are found ; 
Here love the glow of life divine imparts, 
Strikes our dull ears, and melts our frozen hearts. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 69 

Most precious volume ! thou alone shalt be 

My polar-star, while sailing o'er life's sea. 

Thus proof against all danger and all fear, 
Through storms and quick-sands I securely steer. 

My Pharos thou, — and while thy watch-fires 

burn, 

In breakers and in clouds to thee I turn ; 

And steadfast on thy streaming lustre gaze, 

Till thou art lost in heaven's resplendent blaze. 

We oft converse, and pleased communion hold 
With works bequeathed by minds of Christian 

mould — 
Those master minds, beyond the common crowd, 
By grace enriched, with genius high endowed. 
Augustine, Calvin, Edwards — noble names ! 12 



70 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

The church throughout all time their praise pro- 

claims. 
In logic skilled, in argument profound, 
In Scripture mighty, and in doctrine sound, — 
Their giant strength to error they oppose, 
Beat down the forces of besieging foes, 
High on the battlements of Zion tower, 
And win the day from every hostile power. 
Guided by him of Analogic name 13 
We love to look through Nature's beauteous frame, 
And in her course and constitution see 
How firm Revealed Religion's bulwarks be. 
With affluent Charnocke now we linger, — now 14 
With the sublime and richly-furnished Howe. 15 
In Doddridge calm, judicious, meek, we find 16 
Religion's Rise and Progress in the mind. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 71 

With Boston we survey Man's Fourfold State, 17 
Anon, with soaring Hervey meditate. 18 
God's Life in Man with Scougal now we trace, 19 
Or contemplate with Booth the Reign of Grace. w 
What holy ardour fires the Christian's breast, 
While Baxter sings of Everlasting Rest ! 21 
In Fuller's manly volumes we explore 22 
Far-reaching mines of intellectual ore ; 
Rough in the texture of their soil, but fraught 
With the rich gold of independent thought. 
Lo! Chalmers, in his Astronomic car, 23 
Wheeling aloft, careers from star to star — - 
Looks out upon Immensity's vast sea, 
And gathers thence new proofs of Deity. 

But chiefly Leighton on thy page we dwell, 24 
3* 



72 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Bound by a pleasing and resistless spell — 

In thought and style pathetic, simple, chaste, 

Clothed in true grandeur, and with beauty graced — 

A heavenly fragrance from thy pen distils, 

And all thy pages with its odours fills. 

In meekness schooled, baptized in love divine, 

Thy own sweet spirit breathes in every line. 

Oh, highly favoured sons of humankind, 
To whom our God this mission has assigned ! 
Who, e'er their journey ended in the grave, 
Such witness to his truth and goodness gave! 
The love that in them burned shoots forth its rays 
O'er wide-spread regions, and to distant days. 
They live from age to age, and live to bless, 
Though cold in dust, still speaking through the press. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY, 73 

Their relics, rescued from oblivion's tomb. 
Still throb with life, and yield a rich perfume; 
And, wafted by the gales of grace, shall glide 
Like richly-freighted barks on Time's descending 
tide. 



Friendship, thy pleasures and thy well-earned 
praise 
Have oft inspired the admiring Poet's lays. 
A relic thou of man's primeval state, 
Dearer than gold, and in thy solace great. 
Thy generous heart, with sympathetic glow, 
Responsive throbs to all the forms of woe, 
Thy faithful hand, outstretched, and open still, 
Is prompt its kindly mission to fulfill. 
We dread no danger, and we read no guile 



74 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

In the calm light of thy benignant smile. 

Oh, what unnumbered sweet attractions blend 

In the dear name and office of a friend ! 

But Friendship's pleasures holier heights attain 25 
Where Piety has linked her golden chain. 
How blest the amity of Christian minds, 
Whom grace attracts, and in communion binds ! 
One in the deep- wrought purposes of God, 
One in the bonds of holy brotherhood, 
One in the experience of a heavenly birth, 
One in their common cares and toils on earth, 
One in their aims for Christ to live or die, 
One in their hopes and heritage on high, — 

Thus linked in present and eternal bonds, 

V 

Each heart to each in purest love responds ; 






PLEASURES OF PIETY. 75 

While all, in richer streams, their tribute send 
To him who best deserves the name of friend, — 
The great attractive Centre of the whole, 
Round whom, like sister worlds, in harmony they 
roll. 



Thus, clothed in might with dazzling splendour 
blent, 
The sun, high-throned amidst the firmament, 
Creation's broad and fixed survey absorbs, 
And with his influence binds revolving orbs. 

A Christian friend — inestimable boon ! 
With such how rich a blessing to commune ! 
How strong the cords that bind our hearts, how 
sweet 



70 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

The terms of fellowship on which we meet; — 
On which we walk through life's perplexing road, 
And upward press to our beloved abode ! 
A common fellowship in joy and grief, 
In hope and fear, in burden and relief, 
The bond of Christian brotherhood endears, 
Softens our pathway, and our journey cheers. 
Such sympathy our suffering nature craves, 
Amidst life's boisterous winds and bounding waves. 

In pious converse with a Christian friend, 
To good account the passing hours we spend. 
One in the texture of our moral frame, 
The same our conflicts, and our hopes the same, 
We rise above the world's bewitching dreams, 
And dwell, with mutual joy, on heavenly themes. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 77 

Mind sharpens mind — thought springs from 

thought, — by turns 
Each thrills with rapture, or with ardor burns ; 
Till all is wrapt in love's celestial fire, 
And to the Mount of God our flaming souls aspire ! 

Near twelve months since, of such a friend bereft, 26 
My heart still feels the chasm which he left; 
With fond affection to his memory clings, 
And keeps his name amongst its sacred things. 
Of kindred callings, and the same in age, 
We met as friends, in manhood's earliest stage. 
In manners modest, affable, refined, 
In heart confiding, generous, and kind, 
In purpose fixed, immovable, and pure, 
In mind profound, reflective, and mature — 



78 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

His crowning excellence, by all confessed, 
Was the deep fear of God that swayed his breast. 
Of studious habits, and of well-trained powers, 
He passed his days 'midst sacred learning's 

bowers ; 
Deep inspirations from her fountains drew, 
And all around her mellowing influence threw. 
We watched, with pride,- his luminous career, 
And fondly hoped his long probation here. 
When lo ! he fell, in intellectual prime, 
And parted from the fellowship of time. 

1 loved him from the first, and only know 
That depth of love, since death has laid him low. 
We often met, alas, we meet no more ! 
My little bark still lingers on the shore ; 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 79 

While his, with streaming sails, unmoored and free, 
Now rides the billows of Eternity. 

Oh early lost ! thy name shall ne'er depart, 
Deep-buried in Affection's bleeding heart. 
I sorrow for myself, and not for thee : 

Thou art with God, though sundered far from me. 

Oh, may thy dying grace to me be given, 

And our dear friendship be renewed in heaven! 

The friends of learning oft aside shall turn, 

To muse in sadness by thy silent urn ; 

Nor kneeling Piety, withhold a tear, 

As Memory sighs and whispers, Mims sleeps here ! 



%\t Iflleasures d |)ktg. 



PART III- 



ANALYSIS. 

Cheering prospects of the world, in view of the Missionary enter- 
prises which illustrate the present age. Glance at the Millennium — 
which leads, by contrast, to a brief survey of the past history and 
condition of the world, under the tyranny of sin. All things betoken 
the Reign of Righteousness predicted in the word of God — the over- 
throw of hostile powers — the coming of Messiah's kingdom, and 
the subjugation of all nations to his reign. 

True consolation amidst the bereavements of life found only in 
Piety. Episode — parents bereaved of their only child, and their com- 
fort in the bereavement. 

Pleasures connected with the anticipations of the heavenly state. 
Description of heaven. 

A walk amongst the tombs. The melancholy reflections incident 
to such a scene assuaged by the hope of the resurrection. The res- 



82 ANALYSIS. 

toration to life of the son of the widow of Nain. The resurrection 
of Christ. Description of the general resurrection of the dead on 
the last day. 

The pleasures of Piety are constant and abiding. Description of 
a dying Christian. 

The Poem concludes with an exhortation to the cultivation of 
Piety. 



^Ituutn of ^fofg- 



PART III. 



Amidst the long and dreadful night that shrouds 
The moral world in darkness and in clouds, 
The morn of missions dawns — like earliest star, 
Sends forth its glimmering promises afar; 
With "beams of hope lights up the orient skies, 
And heralds there the Sun of Glory's rise. 

: Offspring of hell, subversive of all good, 
Long has the Tempter's cursed empire stood, 
The hopes of bliss from human hearts expelled, 
And all the world in vilest bondage held. 
Six thousand years our abject race have bowed 



84 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Beneath hell's tyranny — by heaven allowed 
For wise designs, which wondering angels scan, 
But lie beyond the mental reach of man. 
And still the gathered wrath of heaven delays ; 
And still the apostate king his sceptre sways 
O'er hearts and lives, and cottages and thrones, 
And mocks at human agonies and groans, 
While holy beings, intent, look down with tears 
On the long hell-rule of six thousand years. 

Oh earth, long chained by sin, and bound in woe, 
Ere long through all thy borders thou shalt know 
The blessed freedom of a full release, 
And hail thy rightful Lord — the Prince of Peace ! 
All things betoken change, the end foretell 
Of sin's dominion, and the reign of hell. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 85 

Advancing science scans with eagle eye 

The depths of earth, the wonders of the sky ; 

Puts forth her scythe on nature's teeming fields, 

And for the general good large harvests yields. 

The light of civil and politic truth 

Breaks forth in all the brilliancy of youth, 

O'er tottering thrones, and crumbling empires streams, 

And cheers far nations with its hopeful beams. 

The wings of commerce, waving wide and free, 

Flutter along the shores of every sea. 

The car of knowledge thunders on its way, 

The clouds disperse, and night gives place to day. 

Idolatry, affrighted, shrinks and flies 

To dens secluded, and to darker skies ; 

And there awaits, with trembling and with dread, 

The coming stroke that lays her with the dead. 



86 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

The Crescent wanes. The Babylonian Queen, 
Bending with age, and drunk with blood, is seen ; 
With feeble grasp her seven-hilled throne maintains, 
Apes vigorous life, and with mock splendour reigns. 
Her bulls, the terror of a former age, 
In harmless thunders bellow out their rage. 
With nerveless hand she wields a shivered lance, 
Her sole defence the bayonets of France; 
And from her high and godless empire hurled, 
Provokes the jeers and laughter of the world. 

All things betoken change. Bright signs appear, 
The coming of the Prince of Peace draws near; 
And as he comes, the reign of sin retires, 
Like night-shades chased by morning's arrowy fires. 
He comes in every heart to build his throne — 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 87 

He comes to claim the wide world as his own— 
The losses of our nature to retrieve, 
The crown of many nations to receive: 
He comes redeemed Humanity to bless 
With the Millennial reigii of Righteousness. 

Oh Zion ! check thy tears, suppress thy sigh, 
The glorious coming of thy Lord is nigh. 
" I tarry not — I quickly come," he cries ; 
His chariot- wheels roll down the rending skies. 
Thy night of widowhood is past, thy morn 
Of bridal gladness dawns — thyself adorn 
In beauteous robes, by sovereign grace supplied — 
And go to meet the Lamb, beloved Bride! 

Blest Saviour come! thy promised advent haste; 
Long has thy earthly garden run to waste — 



88 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Thy presence and thy kindly-fostering care 
Shall bring back life, and all the waste repair. 
Thy fainting saints look up with longing eye, 
And weary nations for thy coming sigh. 
Thy truth and knowledge through the world shall 

sweep, 
Like waters rushing o'er the mighty deep — 
Fill every vale, o'er every mountain ride, 
And compass earth with their pacific tide. 
The wandering tribes of Heber, purged from dross, 
With loud laments shall cluster round thy cross; 
In deep and willing penitence bow down, 
And to their own Messiah yield the crown, — 
And o'er the joyful hills of Palestine 
The holy light of God again shall shine — 
While Gentile Tribes, of every name or shore, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 89 

Shall bless thy sceptre, and thy grace adore. 

No more shall cruel war with gory hand 

People untimely graves from land to land. 

No more shall malice hurl her venomed darts, 

Nor pride nor envy dwell in human hearts. 

No more shall avarice the sceptre hold, 

Nor bind men fast with chains of sordid gold. 

All hearts shall find their wealth in thee — their 

choice 
Thy service, and their guide thy voice. 
One mighty chain, of peace and love entwined, 
Shall gird the globe, and all in union bind. 

Broad Continents beneath thy sway shall rest, 
And all the sons of men shall call thee Blest. 
In every land, on every peopled Isle 



90 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Thy peace shall prosper, and thy presence smile. 
And while thy Ransomed, to thy honour, boast 
A better Paradise than Adam lost ; 
In one vast tide, oh Son of God ! to thee 
Shall swell the anthems of all nature's jubilee! 

Conceived in sin, and sufferers from our birth, 
Our days are sad, and filled with grief on earth. 
In sin we sow the seed, and plant the root, 
And gather, in our ripened woes the fruit. 
Successive storms assail our fleeting years, 
And life is but a pilgrimage of tears — 
We read, deeply inscribed on every age, 
Affliction is our nature's heritage. 
Oh whence shall comfort flow to him who bends 
O'er dying kindred, or o'er buried friends ? 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 91 

To heaven-born Piety the mourner turns, 
Undimmed her star of consolation burns, 
Like sunshine streaming through the angry cloud, 
While thunders roar and winds are wailing loud — 
Like rainbow, softening with its beauteous form 
The wild and haggard visage of the storm. 

' Tis eve — beside a dying infant's bed 
Two mournful watchers sit — its little head 
With fever scorched, and tossing in distress, 
Alternate hands with fond affection press ; 
Alternate kisses linger on its cheek, 
And large hot tears parental anguish speak. 
A few months since this babe, their only child, 
Came to their arms, and on their homestead smiled ; 
An angel form — they craved no more than this, 



92 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

Their best loved treasure and their finished bliss. 
Alas, how soon earth's richest beauty fades ! 
How soon her purest light is dimmed by shades ! 
How soon her budding joys to sorrows grow! 
How soon her highest bliss is dipped in woe! 
The much-loved infant sickens — draws its breath 
In laboured gasps — and now it sleeps in death. 
To-day its life-rays all that house illume, 
To-night its death-shades veil it all in gloom — 
This morn it was a living seraph here ; 
This night a seraph in another sphere. 

Thus wearied with its cage, the little bird 
In silence cowers, its voice no more is heard. 
When lo ! a pitying hand the bars removes, 
And gently beckons to its native groves. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 93 

It opes its drooping eyes, expands its wings, 
Flutters with life, and from its torpor springs ; 
Breaks from its bondage, shuns pursuing eyes, 
And bears away to more inviting skies. 

" Florence assuage thy tears/' the father cries, 
" Our comfort lives, although our Edward dies. 
He dies to earth, but, oh, he lives again 
In Being's holier, happier domain ! 
That little star, that lit our mortal way, 
Now shines in heaven, with far more splendid ray. 
That little flower that in our garden bloomed, 
And all the atmosphere of life perfumed, 
Now blows amongst the flowers of Paradise, 
More rich and sweet than when it blest our eyes. 
Oh, favoured we ! While mourning o'er our dead, 
Rich dews of comforts on our hearts are shed. 



94 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

This eve, although we mourn departed joy, 
In the cold sleep of our beloved boy, 
An infant angel passed the gates of night, 
And mingled with the elder sons of light. 
Our dearest treasure moored on glory's coast, 
No other treasure in the world we boast. 
To closer fellowship with heaven we rise, 
Since our sweet infant mingled with the skies. 

" His lifeless form we lay in lowly dust, 
Strong in the comfort of immortal trust. 
Our Saviour died, and lo ! our Edward dies — 
Our Saviour rose, our Edward too shall rise. 
The grave is but a temporary home, 
A bridge — a tunnel to the life to come. 
Through that dark tunnel one by one we go, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 95 

(As waves successive down the current flow,) 
In long procession moving, first to last, 
Till all the Caravan of life has passed. 
The dead are parted, but they part to meet 
Where no more storms shall round their mansions 

beat — ■ 
Where words of parting never more are said, 
And where the living no more mourn their dead. 
Receive this little treasure, grave. We weep 
To lay it in thy house, but thou wilt keep 
Thy trust with faithful care till Gabriel calls ; 
And then through all thy cold and silent halls, 
Our God the iron bonds of death shall break, 
And sleeping millions from their slumbers wake. 
And then our dearly loved, and early dead 

Shall start triumphant from his narrow bed, 

4* 



96 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

The grave-dust from his glittering vestments fling, 
And to the blazing Fount of life and glory spring. 



w 



What pleasures mingle with the hopes of those 
To whom the promises of God disclose 
A better life, a more congenial clime, 
Beyond the precincts of revolving time! 
Before whose eyes, though present tempests lower, 
The hills of glory in the distance tower! 
How blest the hope of heaven ! Its power how 

great 
To soothe our cares, to lighten sorrow's weight — 
To dry the tear, to quell each rising sigh, 
And cheer us when all earthly comforts die ! 

Like pilgrims through the world we pass — each day 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



97 



Advancing on our melancholy way, 
As by resistless gravitation led 
Down to the ghastly regions of the dead. 
All nature changes : for a season blooms, 
In beauteous life, and gives forth sweet perfumes — 
Then quickly fades before death's withering gust, 
Breathes out her life and mingles with the dust. 
We read our doom through nature's various range, 
Ourselves the subjects of perpetual change. 
With weary steps from scene to scene we roam, 
And claim no earthly dwelling as our home. 
Where'er we pitch our tent, howe'er provide 
For coming storms, ere long the ebbing tide 
Shall bear us down with its resistless wave, 
And our last change consign us to the grave. 
Oh, were it not for hope of heaven, how brief 



98 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



Were human joy — our life how full of grief! 
Oh were it not for hope of heaven, how deep 
The gathering shades of nature's final sleep ! 
But this blest hope with fadeless light, serene, 
Shines through the dark of each succeeding scene ; 
In life or death with equal splendour reigns, 
And lights us on to Joy's eternal plains. 

Thus travellers on Zahara's arid sand 
Look for repose in some more genial land, 
Where milder suns a softer light diffuse, 
And pregnant clouds refresh with showers and dews; 
Breast the fierce Simoom, on their journey haste, 
Nor faint nor loiter 'midst the burning waste. 



Through life this hope the troubled heart sustains, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 99 

For the redeemed of God a rest remains; 

A rest where adverse winds no more shall blow, 

A rest where waves of grief no more shall flow, 

A rest from sin, and care, and anxious toil, 

Whose treasured bliss no enemy can spoil — 

A tranquil, peaceful, perfect, final rest, 

Of all imaginable good possessed, 

Pervading regions by the holy trod — 

The bliss of angels and the rest of God ! 

Of heavenly rest I sing. Transporting theme ! 
How mean and low all earth-born glories seem, 
While on the joyous mount of Hope I stand, 
And hail the prospect of the promised land. 
Beyond that deep and darkly-rolling flood, 
O'erflowing with Humanity's life-blood, 



100 



PLEASURES OF PIETY 



Through which successive generations go, 
And where they feel their last of earthly woe — 
Beyond that flood, the fields of Paradise, 
With glory crowned, in boundless prospect rise. 
No night is there, nor eve succeeding noon, 
Nor varied light of sun, or star, or moon — 
Ail lesser orbs forgotten and unknown 
In the excessive splendours of the throne. 
No sea is there, diffusing far and wide 
Its heaving waves and ever changing tide. 
The Continent of Glory has no shore — 
Nor swept by winds, nor vexed by ocean's roar, 
In vast and placid blessedness it lies, 
Compassed by nought but God's all-seeing eyes. 
No grief is there — the Christian felt the last 
Of human grief, as through the flood he passed. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 101 

No tears are there — the final tear was shed 
Before he swooned and mingled with the dead. 
No mourning voice is heard, no piteous wail, 
Like Hadadrimmon's in Migiddo's vale. 
No death is there, — no monumental mound, 
No grave-stones, pointing to sepulchral ground. 

It is the land of light, of smiles, of joy, 
Of love, of life — debased with no alloy. 
The land where pious Friendship's golden chain, 
Severed by death, is firmly linked again. 
The land where holy beings, of every clime, 
Of every age through the long course of time, 
Shall meet, in blest society, to spend 
The final life of ages without end. 
The land where angels with the saints unite 



102 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

In converse high, and banquets of delight, 

In prostrate homage to the Great I Am, 

In sounding hallelujahs to the Lamb. 

The land where Jesus, by his Father's side, 

A universal Sovereign sits, and wide, 

Through the vast realms rejoicing meath his sway, 

Pours fourth his smiles and makes eternal day. 

The Lamb! Oh blessed centre of all heaven ! 

Thy love effused, its universal leaven ! 

All eyes to thee in admiration turn, 

All hearts with love for thee intensely burn. 

Other attractions, whether great or small, 

Are lost in thee — and thou art heaven to all ! 



And shall the child of a degenerate race 
Dare hope, in that blest land, to see thy face ? 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 103 

To mingle in thy ransomed train, and raise 
In humble strains a tribute to thy praise ? 
Then farewell earth ! thy richest joys farewell ! 
Far nobler pleasures in my bosom swell. 
Calmly I'll bear thy ills, and, fearless, brave 
The storm of death, the maelstrom of the grave : 
My hope beyond their reach is anchored high, 
And all my treasure garnered in the sky. 

Thus the proud eagle spurns terrestrial things, 

And, for a nobler flight, expands his wings. 

Bearing away, he seeks an untrod path, 

Drives through the mountain-tempest in its 

wrath, 

Constructs his eyrie on some rocky steep, 

High o'er the echoing caverns of the deep ; 
5 



104 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

And there, sublime, in calm security, 

Look fearless forth upon the raging of the sea. 

The scene is changed. The pensive Muse resumes 
A mournful strain. We walk amongst the tombs — 
A melancholy place, within whose bound 
Nought greets the eye, but here and there a mound, 
With marble slab or sculptured stone, to show 
The name of the unknown who sleeps below. 
No human form is seen, no step is heard, 
No merry laugh, no softly- whispered word — 
No living breath disturbs the ambient air, 
But all is calm, and cold, and silent here. 
And yet within this grave-yard's narrow bound, 
Deep buried underneath the sod, are found 
The crowd who, erewhile, joyous walked the plain 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



105 



Of life, and mingled with yon village train. 
But here they rest, their labours they suspend, 
And to mortality's last home descend. 
Around, the young, the old, the low, the high, 
In breathless sleep, and cold corruption lie. 
Here is an infant's grave, whose little sun 
Went down, when scarce its sweet day had begun. 
There rests a faithful wife, in life adored, 
And by her side her bosom's trusted lord. 
The village pastor here has made his bed — 
The old man there has laid his honoured head. 
Yonder a father and a mother lie, 
While their beloved offspring slumber nigh. 
Where'er I turn, on human dust I tread, 
And lonely walk through this dense city of the 
dead. 



106 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



Ob, were it not for Revelation's light, 
How deep, and dark, and dismal were the night 
That hovers o'er the dead, and shades the grave ! 
But he who made, is able too to save. 
The temporary boast of death is vain, 
For God has said the dead shall live again. 



Forth from the gates of Nain a mournful crowd, 27 
In slow procession moving, bore a shroud. 
All hearts were touched with sympathy sincere, 
A widow's only son lay on the bier. 
A husband's death, erewhile, her heart had wrung, 
And o'er her life thick clouds of darkness hung; 
And now the wounds, which then so deeply bled; 
Gush forth afresh — her only son is dead. 
Poor, stricken mourner ! crushed by sorrow's weight, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



107 



Thy heart how sad, thy home how desolate ! 
What now shall cheer thy dark and lonely hours, 
Since this last day-beam faded from thy bowers ? 



The Son of God draws near — "Weep not/' he 
cries ; 
Then turning to the dead, "Young man, arise !'' 
That voice, omnific, strikes the leaden ear, 
And lo ! the sheeted corpse leaps from the bier, 
With life instinct, and lustre in his eyes, 
And to his mother's fond embrace he flies. 
The raptured widow clasps her living boy, 
In all the wildness of delirious joy. 
Then falls before her Benefactor's face, 
And with warm blessings, lauds his pitying grace. 
The waiting crowd, with fear and wonder awed, 



108 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



Shout loud hosannahs to the Son of God ; 
And in the rising of the youth of Nain, 
This truth we learn, the dead may live again. 



A higher demonstration dost thou crave? 28 
'Tis here. The third day dawns on Jesus' grave. 
Around the sepulchre, a Roman train 
Their iron guard and anxious watch maintain. 
A ponderous stone, with signet sealed, and sure, 
Lies on the door — and all is deemed secure. 
Vain toil! As well that band might eastward run, 29 
To check the progress of the morning sun ; 
As well that stone before his car be whirled, 
To block his rising glories from the world ! 
A mightier Sun, with more majestic blaze, 
From deeper night shoots forth his rising rays. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



10 9 



The stone is rolled away, earth heaves around ; 
The guard, like dead men, fall upon the ground. 
The Crucified exalts his God-like head, 
Comes glorious from the regions of the dead; 
With arm uplifted, smites pale death's domains, 
And binds the tyrant in eternal chains. 
Through all her adamantine vaults, hell groans, 
The powers of darkness shudder on their thrones 5 
The arch-fiend's breast with fiercer pangs is rent 
Than when he toppled from heaven's battlement ; 
While angels wave their wings, and eager rise 
To bear the news through all the waiting skies. 
A joy peculiar thrills the heavenly choirs, 
To strains unheard before they wake their lyres ; 
Their voices tune, and sweep each sounding chord 
To chant the triumphs of their rising Lord — 



110 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

The Father smiles, and from his radiant throne 
New tides of bliss are poured through Glory's won- 
dering zone. 

On this great fact, believing souls repose, 
At the predicted time, the Saviour rose; 
And with him rose our hopes, to die no more; 
For, rising, he hath left an open door 
To death-imprisoned millions of all years, 
When judgment-thunders rock the pealing 
spheres. 

The dead shall rise again, where'er they sleep, 
On solid ground, or in the restless deep, 
On mountains cold, or in secluded caves, 
On battle-fields, or 'mongst paternal graves, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



Ill 



On foreign shores, or in their native land, 
'Midst Polar snows, or on Zaharah's sand. 

The dead shall rise again, whoe'er they be, 
The old and young, the conquered and the free, 
The rich and poor, the monarch and the slave, 
The wise, the rude, the dastard, and the brave, 
The true, the false, the honoured, the obscure, 
The proud, the meek, the vicious, and the pure; 
All, all, shall hear the trump of summons blown, 
And move in awful grandeur to the throne. 



The resurrection morn! Methinks I hear 

The signal pealing through the rumbling air; 
The distant skies reverberate the sound, 

And mighty earthquakes shake the gaping ground. 



112 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



The weary tide of time has ceased to run — 

Intenser light extinguishes the sun — 

Old ocean utters unaccustomed roar, 

And sways, in thundering tides, from shore to • 

shore. 
He comes, the mighty Saviour comes in cloud 
Of blazing glory; all the heavens are bowed 
Before his presence, and confess his reign, 
While countless angels glitter in his train. 
Pausing aloft, his conquering arm he rears 
(For vengeance nerved) above the trembling spheres, 
Smites the pale empire of the ghastly king, 
(Whose smouldering realms with groans terrific 

ring,) 
Heaves the last pillar from his toppling throne, 
Shakes from its base the last foundation stone ; 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



113 



Breaks up his prison-halls from cell to cell, 
And hurls the shattered fragments down to hell. 



" Come forth," he cries, with voice of high com- 
mand; 
And lo ! the dead arise on every hand, 
Shake off their slumbers, and their icy chains, 
While life immortal circles through their veins. 
They rise from every sea, or isle, or shore, 
In armies vast, and rise to die no more. 
The elder race of Patriarchal blood, 
And all the tribes that lived before the flood ; 
The ancient nations of historic fame, 
And all barbaric hordes of unknown name ; 
The generations of more modern times, 
The buried of all ages and all climes ; 



114 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



From Abel slaughtered in creation's morn, 
Down to the latest child of woman born; 
They come victorious from the final strife, 
And surge, in countless waves — a boundless sea of 
life. 



And then these graves, 'mongst which I muse, 
unsealed, 
Shall glow with breath of kindling life, and yield 
Their waking tenants to the vast array, 
Who pass from night into immortal day. 
This infant then shall spread his pinions fair, 
And soar in beauty through the peopled air. 
No longer bent with age, that grey-haired sire 
Shall bound to life, imbued with youthful fire; 
This wife, and husband sleeping by her side, 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



115 



Shall each come forth — no more to death allied ; 
That village pastor, rising midst the shock, 
Shall upward mount, with his rejoicing flock; 
While yonder parents, with a blooming train 
Of sons and daughters, wake to life again. 



And then my dead shall live; that beauteous boy, 
First pledge of wedded love, first star of joy 
That lit his parents' home: so soon, alas! 
Doomed from his orbit in this life to pass: 
Whose sweet remains lie in that little grave 
Beside the Pee Dee's darkly-rolling wave; 
And his fair brother, younger born, whose days, 
Like his, were brief, but fraught with purest rays 
Of gentleness and love, now pillowed low 
In dust o'er which the mountain breezes blow: 



116 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



Both 3 both shall live — the breath of God shall warm 
Each frozen heart — inspire each perished form — 
In finished beauty and unfading bloom, 
Shall each forsake the wardrobe of the tomb, 
Join in the hallelujahs of the Blest, 
And hail the birth-day of eternal rest! 

Undying Piety ! thy joys abide 
When we are 'reft of every joy beside. 
Thy sun no setting knows; its heaven-born light 
With equal lustre shines, by day, by night, 
When skies are clear, or threatening tempests lower, 
And gilds with brightest rays life's closing hour. 



Hush! 'tis, a death-bed scene — the Christian lies, 
Sinking and faint, in life's last agonies. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



117 



The evening dews, of death precursive, now 
In clammy coldness, gather round his brow. 
The settling blood its crimson hues reveals, 
And o'er his limbs a creeping numbness steals. 
His breath is almost spent, his glazing eye, 
With fixed survey, turns upward to the sky. 
His voice in husky accents strikes the ear; 
All things proclaim, oh! death, that thou art near! 



But thy grim visages no terror bring, 

Terrific monster! thou hast lost thy sting. 

The Christian calmly rests his dying head 

On the Redeemer's bosom; round his bed 

Angelic forms their sleepless vigils keep, 

And view the scene with joy, though mortals weep. 

With fainting voice, he bids a calm farewell 

To the dear friends he loved on earth so well: 



118 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



Then turns his thoughts from earth to heaven, and 

longs 
To join the chorus of immortal songs. 
And oh! the glory! Through the gloom afar, 
He sees the rising of the Morning Star, 
Before whose beams earth pales her brightest fires, 
Before whose beams the night of death retires; 
Whose glimmerings e'en the grave's dread sky 

adorn, 

And surely herald an eternal morn. 

The dying child of God pants for the strife, 

The closing stroke — and craves his coming life. 
With one last effort points to his dear home, 
And whispers, "Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come!" 
Then leaves his crumbling tenement of clay, 
Puts on angelic wings, and soars to cloudless day. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY 



119 



Thus wafted on her voyage by favouring gales, 
In sight of port, the vessel spreads her sails. 
The well known Pharos guides her on her way, 
She courts the breeze, and no more brooks delay; 
Drives back in foam the waves that beat her sides, 
And thus triumphant into port she rides. 



In works of Piety, oh! mortal, spend 

The few remaining years which God shall send. 

Thus pleasures, which no sufferings can assuage, 

Shall strew the pathway of thy pilgrimage, 

With fragrant freshness gather round its close, 

And soothe thee into nature's last repose. 

Amidst the dreary winter of the tomb, 

Shall fadeless flowers of hope immortal bloom. 

And when the Judgment-trumpet wakes the dead. 
6 



120 PLEASURES OF PIETY. 

With thrilling joy shalt thou lift up thine head, 
Inhale new vigor with returning breath, 
And rise to glory from the solitude of death. 




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Mourn, Carolina mourn ! thy statesman lies 
In cold oblivion's final, dreamless, sleep, 
Forever sundered from terrestrial ties. 

The sentinel no more his watch shall keep 
Like some tall pharos towering o'er the deep. 
In legislative halls no more the sage, 
From the deep wisdom of experienced years, 
Shall speak in tones to move and mould the age. 
His service, fraught with life-consuming cares, 
Demands the gushing tribute of a nation's tears. 



124 ON THE DEATH OF HON. JOHN C. CALHOUN. 

Amongst his country's brightest stars he shone, — 
A sun — with regal strength and splendour fraught 
Of all his mighty rivals, there was none, 
Who to the lists of mental combat brought 
Such depth and matchless energy of thought. 
In argument profound, conclusive, clear, 
All subjects to their depths he probed and stirred — 
In language simple, chaste, concise, severe — 
He spoke, the nation leaned upon his word, 
And listening Senates, with admiring silence heard. 

He loved the Constitution from his heart, 
Framed by the wisdom of our sires of yore — 
A strict adherence to that noble chart, 
The motto on the banner which he bore. 
He loved the Union of the States — but more 



ON THE DEATH OF HON. JOHN C. CALHOUN. 125 

The rights and safety of each sovereign State — 

These, these, the labour of his life to save, 

And these his care when passing through death's 

gate. 
His last hours to his country's cause he gave, 
And from the Senate Halls they bore him to his 

grave. 

List to his voice, oh South, maintain the right ! 
List to his voice, oh North, forsake the' wrong ! 
So shall the North and South again unite, 
And in the bonds of brotherhood be strong: 
So shall this glorious Union flourish long 
On the great principles that gave it birth ; 
Advance its youth to vigorous manhood's prime, 
And lead the moral progress of the earth — 



126 ON THE DEATH OF HON. JOHN C. CALHOUN. 

The joy and paragon of every clime, 
And Freedom's boast and bulwark in all coming 
time. 



Oh honoured dead ! thy virtues and thy deeds 
Are graven on thy Carolina's heart; 
O'er thy new grave at every pore she bleeds, 
In the full gushings of parental smart — 
And in her grief her sons all share a part. 
Thy peerless genius won a large renown; 
Nor less thy pure and patriotic aim — 
This, this, the glory of thy well-earned crown. 
With pride thy birthplace and thy grave we claim, 
And guard with filial care thy patriarchal fame. 



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TTpon a cruel sea 1 steer my bark, 
Without the friendly aid of sail or chart; 
The ocean roars, the firmament grows dark, 
The tempest freshens, unopposed by art. 
By all abandoned in this wretched state, 
I am compelled to obey the will of Fate, 
Which bears sweet Innocence, my sole compeer, 
With me a melanchoty wreck to share! 



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Farewell sweet boy ! thy gentle form 
We here consign to peaceful rest — 
Early conveyed through life's rude storm, 
Thou'rt gone to mingle with the Blest. 
As flowers that fade at opening day, 
Thus quickly hast thou drooped away. 



Long will we fondly think of thee ! 
No future scenes can e'er destroy 
The freshness of thy memory, 

Tempered with sorrow and with joy- 
We mourn the ties thus early riven, 
We joy that thou art now in heaven. 



EPITAPH ON W. M. F. 129 

While bending o'er thy little grave, 

With meek submission may we say, 
"God's will be done! Our Father gave, 
Our Father took this child away — 
His own it was his right to claim, 
And we will bless his holy name." 



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And hast thou left us, precious boy ? Shall we 
No more behold thy beauteous face, nor hear 
The soft tones of thy silver voice, nor mark 
The growth of thy expanding form, nor catch 
The lustre of thy brilliant eye, so fraught 
With tenderness, intelligence and love ? 
'Tis even so ! In the fair morning of 
Thy sweet existence thou hast passed away. 
A cloud has gathered round our home, obscured 
Its light, and marred its beauty. Our withered 



LINES ON THE DEATH OF J. C. F. 131 

Joys, and all our fond and budding hopes, lie 
Buried in thy little grave. 

Beloved 
Child ! Scarce twelve months since, a little angel, 
Thou didst come, to cheer our hearts, and light our 
Dwelling with thy lovely presence. In Spring, 
When flowers were blooming all around, thou 

cam'st, 
The loveliest flower in all the land. In Spring 
Thy beauty faded, and thy bloom decayed; 
But still thy fragrance lingers 'midst oar bowers, 
And shall forever live a treasured trust, 
In the dear memory of parental hearts. 
Great was our joy when first we gazed upon 
Thy face, and in its tiny features traced 



132 



LINES ON THE DEATH OF J. C. F. 



The image of thy first-born brother — him 

Whose fair and faded form, ten years ago, 

We buried in the cold, cold ground. Like his, 

Thy birth gave joy : — like his, thy life was one 

Of gentleness and love: — like his, thy sun 

Went down in early morn: — like his, thy death 

Clouded our hearts with grief, our house with gloom. 

Sweet child! In thee we found a solace midst 

The cares of anxious life. In thee we found 

A spring of cheerfulness that never failed. 

Thy parents doated on thee. In thy smile 

Of pure affection — in the soft clasping 

Of thy snow-white arms — in the bright, deep glance 

Of thy expressive eye — in the oft proffered 

Kisses of thy ruby lips : — in all thy 

Life and being, we found a well of comfort, 



LINES ON THE DEATH OF J. C. F. 133 

And a stream of joy. Thy brothers and thy 

Sister often gathered round, to kiss thy 

Cheek, thy hands, thy feet, — to catch thy glances, 

And excite thy smile, — and speak, in tender 

Admiration, of the loving, smiling 

Beauty that sat upon their mother's knee. 

Father, mother, brothers, sister, — all, all, 

Found their light in thee. Thou wertour dwelling's 

Little sun, the central pleasure of the 

Dear domestic circle. But thou hast left thine 

Orbit here, in brighter worlds to shine; and 

We remain in darkness. 



Through all thy sad 
And painful illness, thine eye ne'er lost its 
Lustre, nor thy heart its love. As flowers, when 



134 



LIXES ON THE DEATH OF J. C. F. 



Bruised, send forth their sweetest smell, e'en so the 
Sweetness of thy life, in gathered fragrance, 
Breathed around, when thou wast bruised, and 

rudely 
Broken by the hand of death. Thy body 
Wasted by disease, and racked with pain, found 
Rest, its only rest, upon thy mother's 
Bosom, or in thy father's circling arms. 
And when the damp dews of life's last evening 
Were falling on thy brow; and when thy hands 
And feet were powerless and cold, and all 
Thy strength was gone, — at the parental call 
Thine eye looked up in love, and thy pale lips 
Were opened to receive the farewell kiss. 
The dreaded change came o'er thee, and the ties 
That bound thee to the world were cut. Our hearts 



LINES ON THE DEATH OF J. C. F. 135 



I 



Gave up their treasure to the skies. Angels. 
Methinks, were hovering round, and our blest child 
Pat on immortal wings, and soared from man 
To God. 



With stricken hearts we closed thine eyes, 
And wrapped thee in the winding-sheet, and bore 

Thee to thy burial. There sweetly, calmly 

Rest, until the day of promised ransom. 

Then, at the sound of Gabriel's trumpet, and 

The voice of God, instinct with life, thou shalt 

Arise, a fadeless beauty, from the tomb, 

To sparkle in thy Saviour's glorious crown, 

And shine amongst the eternal stars of heaven ! 



6* 



%\t gttant 0f spring. 



Stern winter's dying blasts are heard, 
And Spring begins once more to bloom ; 
Fair Nature hails the auspicious signs, 
And rises from her wint'ry tomb. 

The mighty monarch of the morn, 
Rejoicing, from the South returns ; 
Diffuses life through all the land, 
And with his wonted glory burns. 

The vernal flowers peep forth, and spread 
In modest beauty o'er the ground, 
Receive the kisses of the morn, 
And breathe Arcadian sweets around. 



THE RETURN OF SPRING. 137 



Come forth, sweet warblers of the wood. 
And wake, once more, the vernal lay ! 
Brooks, vales and blooming groves invite, 
And winter's blasts have died away. 



Sty Itartgr. 



" Next there was Sanders condemned, and sent to Coventry to be 
burnt, where he suffered on the 8th of February. He had been made 
a prisoner for preaching, notwithstanding the Queen's prohibition, 
and was condemned for not conforming to the new laws. He was 
led out to the stake, and a pardon was offered him : but he said he 
held no heresies, but the blessed Gospel of Christ; and that he would 
never recant. When he came to the stake, he embraced it and said, 
" "Welcome the Cross of Christ, welcome everlasting life ;" and so he 
was burnt." — Burnet's Hist. Ref. vol. ii. p. 470. 

In chains a servant of the Lord 

Was hurried to the stake, 
Confiding in his Saviour's word, 

To suffer for his sake : 
His sake, who shed his precious blood 

Without a murmuring breath, 
And soothed the dreadful wrath of God 



THE MARTYR. 139 



» 



With his vicarious death. 
Though marching to a fiery doom, 

His soul was free from care ; 
The agonies of martyrdom, 

He faced devoid of fear. 
Nay, joy itself shone o'er his face, 

In rays divinely mild — 
" Father I feel thy strengthening grace, 

He said, and sweetly smiled. 



His flock, a little band, drew near, 

To bid a last farewell ; 
While many a sigh, and many a tear, 

Their deep-toned anguish tell. 
Their pastor whom no guile had stained 

Revered and loved by all, 



140 



THE MARTYR. 



Was doomed to death, and they remained, 
To monrn his early fall. 

Their tears he saw, their sighs he heard, 

And witnessed all their grief — 
"Weep not for me Saints of the Lord! 

My sufferings will be brief. 
Each moment higher throbs my heart, 

At thought of joys to come — 
The fire that burns the mortal part 

Shall light my spirit home." 



The cords were passed around his frame, 

And bound him to the pole; 
Fresh lustre o'er his visage came, 

Fresh glory filled his soul. 



THE MARTYR. 



141 



He hailed the twilight of his woes, 
And to the eve of faith, 

The Sun of Righteousness arose 
Beyond the shades of Death, 



The fire was lit and fiercely blazed, 

The martyr longed to die ; 
Thrice clapped his scorched hands, and raised 

To heaven his raptured eye. 
" For me my Lord was crucified, — 

I hail thee, Cross of Christ ! 
Welcome eternal life!'' he cried, 

And soared to endless rest. 



%\t BttmM — %\t &i$Irp. 






The following little Italian piece was handed me by a literary friend 
in Edinburgh. Its author is unknown. 

Placido zeffiretto! 
Se trovi il caro oggetto, 
Digli che sei sospiro; 
Ma non gli dir di chi. 
Limpido ruscelletto ! 
Se mai t'incontri in lei, 
Dillexhe pianto sei ; 

Ma non le dir qual ciglio 
Crescer ti f e cosi. 



TRANSLATION. 



Bright streamlet, should you meet the fair 
So loved, tell her you are a tear, 



THE STREAMLET THE ZEPHYR. 143 

But tell not whence you came. 
Soft zephyr,, should you pass her by, 
Whisper, I am a lover's sigh — ■ 

But oh, conceal his name ! 



lus Mm. 



A NEW TRANSLATION. 



I. 



Oh the vengeance of that day, 
When, as seers and sybils say, 
Earth in flames shall melt away 



n. 

What a trembling shakes the sky, 
When the Mighty Judge draws nigh, 
All things at his bar to try ! 

in. 
Then the trump of awful sound, 
Echoing through sepulchral ground, 
Gathers all the throne around. 



DIES IRAE. J 45 

IV. 

Death and Nature palsied fall, 

As his creatures, great and small, 

Come forth at the Judge's call. 

v. 

Then the volume shall be brought. 
With all human actions fraught, 

Whence the world its doom is taught. 

VI. 

When the Judge sits on the throne, 
Secret things shall all be known, 
And to all men justice shown. 

VII. 

What then shall a sinner say, 

To what Intercessor pray, 

When the just man's strength gives way ? 



146 DIES IRAE. 

VIII. 

King of fearful majesty, 
Author of salvation free, — 
Fount of pity, rescue me. 

IX. 

Lord, remember the grace shown, 
When my cause was made thine own- 
Then, oh leave me not alone ! 

x. 
Seeking me, thou suffered st here, 
On the cross my curse didst bear — 
Let not all thy toil fail there ! 

XI. 

Vengeance, Righteous Judge, is thine! 
Grant remission of my sin, 
Ere that day of doom begin. 



DIES IRAE. 147 

XII. 

Heart-felt groans my guilt confess — • 
Blushing shame o'erspreads my face — 
Oh, God, granj a suppliant grace ! 

XIII. 

Mary felt thy pardon free, 
And the thief upon the tree — 
My hopes too are staid on thee. 

XIV. 

Prayers of mine no merit have — 
Mercy, undeserved, I crave — 
From eternal burnings save. 

xv. 
Severed from the faithless band, 
May it be my lot to stand 
With the sheep at thy right-hand ! 



148 DIES IRAE. 

XVI. 

When the wicked, sore distress'd, 
Sink, with burning vengeance press'd, 
Call me home amongst the bless'd. 

XVII. 

Lowly in the dust I bend, 
Whence my contrite cries ascend — 
Oh sustain me in my end ! 

XVIII. 

On that day of weeping dire, 
When, risen from a world on fire, 
Sinners at thy bar appear — 
Spare, oh God, the suppliant spare ! 



LINES 



taggtsMr hg a ifeto torn % to 0f fable ItfcL 



Stupendous pile ! with silent dread I gaze 
On thy wild grandeur; and, the while, a sense 
Of present Deity overwhelms my wondering, 
Awe-struck soul. 



What power but that of God 
Could e'er have raised thy huge dimensions, and 
What power but that of God can undermine 
Thy deep foundations, and hurl thee headlong 
From thy mountain-throne ? Rising aloft 
In sheer ascent, thy bald and frowning crest 



150 



TABLE ROCK. 



Disdains comparison with earth, o'erlooks 

Unnumbered mountains, and attracts the gaze 

And admiration of all surrounding 

Nature. The first rays of the rising sun 

Thy summit gild; and round thy kingly brow 

Linger his setting glories. Cool waters 

Gurgle through thy rugged veins, or leaping 

Down thy battlements, diffuse refreshing 

Coolness through the air, and paint, with sun-beams 

Sweetly blending, cerulean beauties on 

The sky. Thy shaggy sides, precipitous 

And black, protruding now, and now indented, 

With many a flake, half-chiselled from the mass, 

And jutting out with aspect serrated 

And sharp, menacing ruin to man, or 

Beast, or living thing below, — rise proudly 



TABLE ROCK. 



151 



Up in contrast with the littleness of 
Man. Oh, how his pride, and vain ambition 
To be great, are shamed into a conscious 
Apprehension of his true proportions, 
While quailing, cowering, at thy base he stands 
And meditates thy long sublimity, 
Coeval with the birth of time, and doomed 
To perish only with its dying throes ! 
Six thousand winters round thy brow have shed 
Their snows, and yet with age thou art not hoary — 
Ten thousand times ten thousand thunders, 'neath, 
Above, around, have bellowed out their rage — 
Lighten ings have gleamed — tempests without num- 
ber 
Have swept in death and desolation o 9 er 
Fair Nature's beauties, and the works of Art: — 



152 TABLE ROCK. 

But still thou stand'st, unterrified, unmoved, 
The monument of power creative, and 



Of God's sustaining Providence. 



Proud Rock ! 
Thy years are numbered. God himself has set 
The boundaries of thy sovereignty. The blast 
Of Gabriel's trump shall shake thy mighty base, 
Upheave the pillars of thy throne, and bring 
Thy grandeur to the dust. Then wrapt in names, 
Fiercer than e'en thine adamantine strength 
Can bear, in one vast conflagration thou 
Shalt fade from human vision, and thy wild 
Sublimity, with all the glorious scenes 
Of earth, in fire shall melt away ! 



i]p$j f pit- 



FROM THE LATIN OF MUSCULTTS. 

Nil superest vitae, frigus praecordia captat : 
Sed tu, Christe, mihi vita, perennis ades. 



Of mortal life nought now remains, 
The life-blood freezes in the veins : — 
But thou, oh Christ ! from nature's strife, 
Shall bear me to eternal life. 



Why, oh my soul, why such dismay ? 
To seats of rest this is the way; 
And, ever faithful, at thy side, 
Behold thy Angel and thy Guide. 



154 DYING HYMN. 

Then leave this frail abode of clay, 
So swiftly falling to decay; 
For God's right-hand shall bid it rise, 
A nobler mansion in the skies. 



That thou hast deeply sinned I know, 
And hence the cause of all thy woe: 
But Jesus' blood, for sinners spilt, 
Can cleanse thee of thy deepest guilt 

Is death appalling? Dost thou fear? 
Behold, thy better life is near ! 
And to that life's secure embrace 
Thy Saviour calls thee by his grace. 

There Christ a glorious victor reigns 



DYING HYMN. 155 

O'er Satan, sin, and death's domains — 
With eager haste his voice obey, 
And to his presence soar away ! 



JAmr to §ritek 



Our sails are expanded, our bark is in motion, 
And proudly we ride on the waves of the ocean, 
Oh! mild be the breezes that waft us along 
From the Island-Queen famed in battle and song! 

Thy green vales, Britannia, thy soft purling rills, 
Thy cities majestic, thy rocks and thy hills, 
Like a vision recede on Atlantic's smooth breast, 
As we hasten away to the realms of the West. 

In forsaking the shores of this glorious Isle, 
Oh ! who at the helm would not linger awhile, 



ADIEU TO BRITAIN. 157 

The fast-fading landscape with rapture to view, 
And to sigh with regret, as he whispers "Adieu !" 

The patriot's country, the land of the brave, 
A foe to oppression; to tyrants, a grave; 
Philosophy, Freedom, and Art, all combined, 
Round the wreath that encircles thy brow are en- 
twined. 



But Religion, Britannia, yields the loveliest flowers 
That grow in thy fields, and embellish thy bowers ; 
This, this, to thy greatness and glory gives birth, 
And fills with thy fragrance the realms of the earth. 

Mav the Monarch of nations continue to smile 
On thy march of true glory, illustrious Isle! 



158 ADIEU TO BRITAIN. 

With its halo unblemished by years, may thy name 
Ne'er lose its proud height in the annals of fame ! 
May Peace and Religion with thee ever dwell ! 
Accept this faint tribute — Britannia farewell! 



%\t Storm at $*»♦ 

These lines were actually written during a violent storm at sea, 
which raged, with but little intermission, for the space of two days. 



Oh ! who can fancy or portray 
The unskilled mariner's dismay, 

When roused from ocean's sleep, 
The troubled spirit of the storm, 
With giant pace and horrid form, 

Marches across the deep ! 

The whisper of the sleeping surge, 

The low wind's melancholy dirge, 
7* 



160 THE STORM AT SEA. 

Are hushed in its long howl — 
The stars are from the concave driven" 
Extinguished is the light of heaven 

Before its gathering scowl 

The waters mount, and rave, and roar. 
Lashed from Atlantic's farthest shore 

Into a dazzling foam — 
The shrill blast whistles in the shrouds, 
Collected are the flying clouds, 

And darker grows the gloom. 

As some aerial being glides 
From wave to wave in stately strides, 
So moves our gallant sail — 
Now furrows deep the heaving main, 



THE STORM AT SEA. 



161 



Now stems the tide with jarring strain, 
And bends before the gale. 

The tempest blackens, and from far 
The loud winds wail; no friendly star 

The dread abyss illumes, — 
The waves, reared from the deep profound, 
In undulations roll around, 

Like a wild waste of tombs. 



Now, borne as on an eagle's wing, 
The crested spray aside we fling, 

And to the concave steer — 
And dashing on in heights sublime, 
As if loosed from the shores of time, 

We cleave the yielding air. 



162 THE STORM AT SEA. 

Around our tempest-battered bark, 
With voice and step of thunder, hark ! 
How Boreas wildly raves ! 
■ And, stalking o'er the dismal waste, 
Drives, foaming with tumultuous haste, 
A bellowing herd of waves !* 

With keel erect, and steady shrouds 
We steer majestic through the clouds, — 

Then swift as lightning's glare, 
From our bleak height in fury hurled, 
We seem to sink beneath the world, 

And seek another sphere. 

The parted billows round us close, 

♦Mugghiando sopra ; l mar, va il gregge bianco. Ariosto. 



THE STORM AT SEA. 163 

A boiling torrent o'er us flows — 

Hope for a moment dies : 
But soon emerging from the gloom, 
We startle from our liquid tomb, 

And scale again the skies. 

Great Ruler of the stormy sea, 

In this dread hour we look to thee, 

Our Saviour and our God ! 
Thy people's prayer is ever heard — 
Oh, calm with one controlling word 

The waves which thou hast trod ! 

But if thy wisdom has decreed 
A sepulchre in ocean's bed, 

Be this one favor given : — 



164 THE STORM AT SEA. 

May we, of thy dear smiles possessed, 
In triumph hail the shores of rest, 

And anchor safe in heaven ! 



%\t Sa&batk 



Hail Sabbath morn ! thy sacred light, 

Chasing the week's dark cares away, 
Refreshing, dawns upon my sight, 
And ushers in the welcome day — 
The day in time's first cycles blest, 
And given by God for holy rest. 



This is the day our Lord awoke 

From the deep slumbers of the tomb, 
Death's iron chains and prison broke, 
Dispelled the graves' terrific gloom, 
A conqueror in his might arose, 
And waved his sceptre o'er his foes. 



166 THE SABBATH. 

To-day we rest from anxious care, 

And all our earthly labors cease ; 
The heart is given to praise and prayer, 
The hours to quietness and peace — 
Our spirits loosed from earth arise 
And hold communion with the skies. 



To-day in holy courts we meet, 
Remote from all perplexing cares, 

The friends of Zion's King to greet, 

And blend our humble songs with theirs- 

'Tis good and pleasant here to be, 

Oh Saviour, with thy friends and Thee ! 

A foretaste of eternal joys 

To pious souls to-day is given ; 



THE SABBATH. 167 

God's service all their powers employs, 
And that's the noblest work of heaven— 
These Sabbaths with which earth is blest 
Prefigure one of endless rest. 

Lord, when my earthly race is run, 

And these blest Sabbaths cease to be ; 
When I appear before Thy throne, 
And hear my final doom from Thee — 
Oh that with the Redeemed I may 
Keep an eternal Sabbath day ! 



Sang. 

As the day hath its brightness, 

Till the night-hours come, 
So the heart hath its lightness 

And its moments of gloom. 
The sky all unclouded, 

Now beams forth in gladness; 
And now it is shrouded 

In tears and in sadness. 



On earth, we never may 
Have joy without sorrow; 

We taste pleasure to-day, 
But grief comes to-morrow. 



SONG 169 

Our joy and our woe, 

Like wave after wave, 
Successively flow 

Till they end in the grave. 

The pains which we shrink from, 

With our pleasures begin ; 
For the chalice we drink from 

Is poisoned with sin 
Oh ! where shall he found 

A balm for our grief, 
Which bleeds like a wound 

Beyond nature's relief? 

The God of all grace 
The promise has given, 



170 SONG. 

That seeking his face, 

We shall find respite in heaven. 
A joy without measure 

His presence giveth, 
A peace and a pleasure 

Which eternally liveth. 



%\t Wm. 



By the grave of Miranda I wept, 

And the low wind in concert moaned by, 

While the dim stars their night vigils kept, 
And moonbeams were gilding the sky. 

Methought in the air I espied, 
Encircled in vestments of flame, 

The form of my late buried bride, 
And nearer the bright vision came. 



Winged seraphs around her were shining; 

To my mind, in a trance of delight, 
On a billow of glory reclining, 

She seemed like a daughter of light. 



172 THE VISION. 

Her visage with love's smile was beaming, 
Her glance was directed to me; 

Her roseate tresses were streaming 
Like Aurora's, fresh laved by the sea. 

"Oh! weep not, my Henry!" she said, 
"Nor murmur at heaven's decree; 

Though my body now sleeps with the dead, 
My soul is unfettered and free. 

"With patience thy sorrows endure, 
Confide in the word of the Lord; 

His promise is faithful and sure, 

And in death thou shalt reap thy reward. 

"For, then, thy Miranda will haste 



THE 


vision. 173 


The sweet balm of 


comfort to pour; 


And when the last struggle is past, 


We shall meet, and be severed no more." 


While she spoke with 


a smile and a sigh, 


Her loved form was 


shrouded in light; 


And swift as a glance 


of the eye, 


She melted away from my sight 



*&¥ ^\^\txV$ f anunt 



Ye shepherds in pity draw near, 

And listen to Florio's song; — 
My woes are too heavy to bear, 

And my heart — it will break before long. 
The star of my life hath declined, 

And left me in Sorrow's dark glen : 
Oh what can sooth the grief of my mind! 

I ne'er shall see Ella again. 

Her form was surpassingly fair, 

And her voice so tenderly sweet, 
It always delighted my ear — 

That voice I can never forget. 
Allured by the charm of her eye, 



SHEPHERD S LAMENT. 



175 



Came many a gallant young swain, 
In her praise with each other to vie, 
And the smile of her favor to gain. 

But I was the choice of her heart, 

Her only and earliest love ; 
And the vow- that we never would part 

Was made in the shade of yon grove. 
Sweet grove ! ^twas there my Ella and I 

At eve were accustomed to meet, 
In the light of the star-beaming sky 

Our long-cherished love to repeat. 

The time of our nuptials drew near, 

And we joyously thought of that day, 
When a dread summons rung in my ear,- 



176 shepherd's lament. 

The battle-cry called me away. 
I bade my sweet Ella farewell, 

And left for a season my home, 
Exchanging the Shepherd's soft shell 

For the stormier sound of the drum. 



For three years I wielded the sword, 

And gained a brave warrior's name ; 
And hastened, when peace was restored, 

The hand of my Ella to claim. 
I returned to this dear tranquil vale, 

And sought for the home of my Fair : 
Ye surely will pity my tale ! — 

The queen of my heart was not there. 

When I mentioned my long-betrothed bride , 



SHEPHERD S LAMENT. 



177 



And demanded the cause of their gloom, 
With fast-flowing tears they replied 

That Ella lay low in the tomb. 
They led to a neighboring grove, 

O'er a well-known flowery way, 



9 Twas the scene of our earliest love, — 



And showed where the Shepherdess lay. 



And does she unconscious repose 

In this lowly and unhonored urn ? 
Nor the fame of her warrior knows ? 

Nor hails his triumphant return ? 
Oh Ella beloved ! at thy shrine 

Thy Florio will constantly stay — ■ 
O'er the urn of his lost one to pine, 

And to weep his existence away! 



tart Sgtrliw, 

FROM THE ITALIAN OF DANTE. 

Noi eravam partiti gia da ello, 

Ch' io vidi du0 ghiacciati in una buca. 

Divina Commedia, Inf. Canto xxxii. 



We had already parted thence, when lo ! 
Two frozen in one hole appeared below, 
In close proximity. The upper head 
With teeth infixed, upon the lower fed, 
As if impelled by hunger's gnawing pains, 
And, rabid, feasted on the oozing brains. 
Thus fierce Tydeus in the times of yore 
Thy temples, hapless Menalippus, tore. 

u Oh thou who in such beastly guise dost sate 
The unstaid hunger of devouring hate! 



COUNT UGOLINE. 179 

Tell me the cause, " I cried, " that so I may, 
Returning to the regions of the day, 
(If just occasion fired thy hatred's flame,) 
The story of thy wrongs and wrath proclaim." 



His gory mouth the wretched sinner rears 
From that fell banquet — wipes it in the hairs 
Of the dismantled skull ; and thus complains : 
"You ask me to renew the desperate pains 
With which my inmost soul is deeply wrung, 
Ere yet they find an utterance through the tongue- 
But may my words yield to this wretch the seed 
Of infamy ! So, weeping, I proceed. 
I know not who thou art, nor by what mode 
Thou hast descended to this low abode — 
But by thy speech thou seem'st a Florentine : 



180 



COUNT UGOLINE. 



Then be it known that I was Ugoline, 

And this, Archbishop Ruggier. List the cause 



That us into such horrid union draws. 



I trusted him — it needless were to tell, 

A victim to his treachery I fell — 

But what thou never cans't have heard, now learn, 

How cruel was my death — and thence discern 

How justly fierce the fires of indignation burn ! 



Through narrow opening in that dreary cell 
Where wretched captives still are forced to dwell, 
(Of Famine named, from my unhappy doom,) 
The light of many moons had pierced the gloom — 
When wrapped in slumbers ominous and deep, 
The curtained future opened on my sleep. 
Methought this man, in master-sportsman's mood, 



COUNT UGOLINE. 



181 



The wolf and whelps on Julian hills pursued, 
With hounds gaunt, keen, and dexterous in the 

hunt, 
Gualand, Sismondi, and Lanfranch in front. 
When lo ! the game press on with weary strides, 
And the sharp teeth are buried in their panting 

sides. 



Before the dawn, I wakened out of sleep, 
And heard my children there, still sleeping, weep, 
And ask for bread. The weight that crushed my 

heart 
A sense of pity surely will impart. 
And if thou weepest not such woes to hear, 
W T hat then shall draw the tribute of a tear ? 
They woke — the hour approached for bringing food — 



182 



COUNT UGOLINE. 



While each recalled his dream in anxious mood, 

The bolting of the horrid tower I heard, 

And looked upon my sons, but uttered not a word 



I did not weep — my heart was petrified : 
They wept; and then my little Anselm cried, 
" What ails thee, father ? Why so strange a look ? " 
But still I shed no tear, no word I spoke, 
Through all that day, nor the succeeding night, 
Until another sun shot forth his light. 
And when a feeble ray its gleams had thrown 
On those four faces — image of my own — 
My pent-up grief I could control no more, 
And both my hands with gnawing anguish tore. 
They thought that hunger urged the unseemly 
deed — 



COUNT UGOLINE. 183 

" Father, less grievous 'twere on us to feed," 

They cried, "these wretched vestments thou didst 

give — ■ 
'Tis meet that at thy will we cease to live." 
I then grew calm, to sooth their anguished mood— 
That day, and all the next, we silent stood. 
Why did'st thou not thy opening jaws extend, 
Unfeeling Earth, and all our sorrows end ? 
The fourth day came, my starving Gaddo cried, 
" Oh Father, help ! " and at my feet he died. 
Thus, 'twixt the fifth day and the sixth, I saw 
Them, one by one, their last breath, fainting, draw. 
Grown blind, amongst them still I groped my way, 
And called their names, though breathless was their 

clay. 

Three days I lingered, wailing by their side, 

8* 



184 COUNT UGOLINE. 



Then famine triumphed o'er my sorrow, and I 



died. 



When thus his tale was told, again he cast 
His eyes, distorted, on the fell repast — 
With jaws voracious, plied his work again, 
And preyed upon the mangled skull and gory brain. 



f m$ m t\t §at\ of ftiss % f . 



Fair Girl ! in life's sweet morning thou hast tied 
From contact with terrestrial things. The voice 
Of Him who sits upon the throne, and rules 
The movements of all worlds, and destinies 
Of men, has called thee to thy final rest 
And thou art gone. Thy faded loveliness. 
Thine ear deaf to all sounds, thine eye no more 
With lustre beaming and with gentlest love, 
Thy rigid features, the marble coldness 
Of thy brow, thy dreamless, wakeless, breathless 
Sleep — all, all assert the presence and the 
Reign of Death! 



186 LINES ON THE DEATH OF MISS A. P. 

Adorned with winning charms, thy 
Maidenhood gave promise large of richest 
Fruit in woman's blessed sphere. In feature 
And in form graceful, with a warm heart and 
Genial sympathies — endowed with the rich 
Gift of intellect, and love of learning — 
Thou wast admired and fondly loved by all 
Thy young associates in the rlowery paths 
Of knowledge, and in the social walks of life. 
Thou wast thy parent's pride. Their fondest hopes 
Centred in thee; expanded with the growth 
Of thy fair form and maiden virtues ; lived 
In thy life; and soaring high, exulted 
In the prospect of long years of joy. Those 
Hopes, erewhile, so fraught with scenes of coming 
Blessedness, have felt, alas ! the blighting 



LINES ON THE DEATH OF MISS A. P. 187 

Touch of man's last enemy; and now they 
Lie, withered, dead, and buried in the cold 
Solitude of their sweet daughter's grave. 

The 
Hand of God's afflicting Providence lay 
On thee long. Parental hearts with keenest 
Anguish yearned, as, month by month they saw thy 
Strength decline, thy beauty fade; and felt the 
Harrowing troth that soon they must resign their 
Dearest treasure to the dust. Afflicted 
Though thou wast, God's blessing with affliction 
Came, chastened thy sorrows, soothed the achings 
Of thy young heart, and planted there the germ 
Of an immortal trust. No murmur 'scaped 
Thy lips — thy bosom no repinings felt. 



188 LINES ON THE DEATH OF MISS A. P. 



Thou wast prepared to die. A meek reliance 

On thy Saviour's merits, and not on thy 

Own virtues, gave inward peace, o'ermastered 

Nature's dread of dying, and looked, with calm 

Expectancy of. bliss, into the life 

To come. Thy sun, so bright through its brief day. 

Shone loveliest in its setting. Thy final 

Words, whispered with labored breath, were fragrant 

Still with filial love, proclaimed thy Christian 

Faith, and breathed out thy dying heart's desires 

For the eternal weal of those, so loved, 

Who, crushed with pressure of unutterred woe, 

Wept by thy pillow, and bent o'er thy form 

To catch the parting whispers of thy pure 

Spirit, ere it winged its way to happier 

Climes. 



LINES ON THE DEATH OF MISS A. P. 189 

Father in heaven, bind up those stricken 
Hearts. Pour thou into their bleeding wounds the 
Healing consolations of thy love. And 
Plant and nurture there blest hopes of heaven — the 
Gift of grace supernal, and the precious 
Growth of their loved Anna's lowly grave ! 

A 

Stranger blends his tears with those by kindred 
Shed o'er her untimely fall, and pays this 
Heartfelt tribute to the memory of her 
Buried loveliness. 



T* 



O T jjj 



« 



TO THE 



H. 



'4S K 



0) 



, »»«tt 



e 



Ipto u tut wumtm #f iitfiM- 



NOTE 1 PAGE 18. 

Sweet are those sighs, those tears though sad are sweet, 
As Mary's were which bathed the Saviour's feet. 

"And behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she 
knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an 
alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him, and began 
to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her 
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment." 
Luke vii. 37-38. 



NOTE 2 — PAGE 23. 

Such, shepherds, was your joy when angels came. 
"And there were, in the same country, shepherds abiding in the 
field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of 



194 NOTES TO THE 

the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round 
about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto 
them, fear 'not ; for, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which 
shall be to all people. For, unto you is born, this day, in the City of 
David, a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord. And suddenly there was 
with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and 
saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will 
toward men." — Luke ii. 8-14. 



note 3 — page 26. 

Eunuch of old, such blessedness was thine. 

u And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the 
Lord caught away Philip that the Eunuch saw him no more ; and he 
went on his way rejoicing. — Acts viii. 39. 



note 4 — page 31. 
A king who, 'midst the splendours of the throne, 

" I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to 
dwell in the tents of wickedness." — Psalms Ixxxiv. 10. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 105 

NOTE 5 — PAGE 35. 

Mother of Doddridge, now methinks I see. 

"The pious parents of Doddridge early instructed him in religious 
knowledge. 'I have heard him relate,' says his biographer, Mr. Job 
Orton, that his mother taught him the history of the Old and New 
Testaments, before he could read, by the assistance of some Dutch 
tiles in the chimney, in the room where they commonly sat ; and her 
wise and pious reflections upon the stories there represented, were 
the means of making some good impressions upon his heart, which 
never wore out." — See Orion's Life of Doddridge. 



note 6 — page 38. 

Howard, such piety inspired thy breast, 

"I cannot name this gentleman without remarking, that his labors 
and writings have done much to open the eyes and the hearts of all 
mankind. He has visited all Europe — not to survey the sumptuous- 
ness of palaces, or the stateliness of temples ; not to make accurate 
measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a 



196 



NOTES TO THE 



scale of the curiosities of modern art ; nor to collect medals, or col- 
late manuscripts, but to dive into the depths of dungeons, to plunge 
into the infection of hospitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and 
pain; to take the guage and dimensions of misery, depression, and 
contempt; to remember the forgotten, to attend to the neglected, to 
visit the forsaken, and compare and collate the distresses of all men 
in all countries. His plan is original: it is as full of genius as of hu- 
manity. It was a voyage of discovery ; a circumnavigation of charity. 
Already, the benefit of his labor is felt, more or less, in every country. 
I hope he will anticipate his final reward by seeing all its effects fully 
realized in his own." — Edmund Burke. 



NOTE 7 — PAGE 43. 

And though in depths unknown thy body sleeps. 

The life, labours, and sufferings of this eminent missionary have 
excited a lively interest throughout the religious world. The circum- 
stances attending his death and burial are, in a high degree, affecting. 
His health and strength had greatly declined ; and, in accordance 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 197 

with the recommendation of his physician, he had been carried on 
board the French barque Aristide Marie, bound for the Isle of Bour- 
bon, such a voyage being regarded as the only possible means of res- 
toration. But his strength continued rapidly to decline ; and a few- 
days after, he quietly breathed his last, out upon the broad sea. "A 
strong plank coffin was constructed; several buckets of sand were 
poured in to make it sink; and at eight o'clock in the evening the 
crew assembled, the larboard port was opened, and in perfect silence, 
broken only by the voice of the captain, all that was mortal of Dr. 
Judson was committed to the deep, in latitude thirteen degrees north, 
longitude ninety-three degrees east, nine days after their embarkation 
from Maulmain, and scarcely three days out of sight of the moun- 
tains of Burmah." — Waylaiid^ Life of Judson, vol. ii. p. 352. 



note 8 — page 53. 

At eve the son of Abraham walked abroad. 

\Genesis xxiv. 63. 



198 



NOTES TO THE 



NOTE 9 — PAGE 59. 

And Paul and Silas, in their dungeon sing. 
"And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto 
God: and the prisoners heard them.'' — Acts 3«#25. 



note 10 — page 60. 

The man beloved, to lonely Patmos driven. 

" I, John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, 
and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the Isle that 
is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus 
Christ." — Revelation i. 9. 



NOTE 11 — PAGE 61. 



Lo ! Sundered from the converse of mankind. 



"It may be doiibted whether any English Dissenter had suffered 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 199 

more severely under the penal laws than John Bunyan. Of the 
twenty-seven years which had elapsed since the restoration, he had 
passed twelve in confinement." "His works were widely circulated 
among the humbler classes. One of them, the Pilgrim's Progress, 
was, in his own life time, translated into several foreign languages. 
Bunyan is as decidedly the first of allegorists, as Demosthenes is the 
first of orators, or Shakspeare the first of Dramatists." — Macaulay^s 
History of England, vol. i. p. 277. 



note 12 — page 69. 

Augustine, Calvin, Edwards, noble names ! 

Mosheim remarks, that Augustine's high reputation filled the 
Christian world ; and " not without reason, as a variety of great and 
shining qualities were united in the character of that illustrious man. 
A sublime genius, an uninterrupted and zealous pursuit of truth, an 
indefatigable application, an invincible patience, a sincere piety, and 
a subtle and lively wit, conspired to establish his fame upon the most 
lasting foundations." 



200 



NOTES TO THE 



In regard to the second great name here mentioned, it may not be 
inappropriate to give the testimony of a highly respectable writer. 
" Notwithstanding all that has been said to his disparagement, it is 
certainly true that Calvin was a great and good man. In the full im- 
port of the phrase he may be styled a benefactor of the world. He 
e ' atly brought to the great enterprize of the age a larger amount 
of moral and intellectual power than did any other of the reformers. 
Even the cautious Scaliger pronounces him the most exalted char- 
acter that has appeared since the days of the' Apostles, and, at the 
age of twenty-two, the most learned man in Europe. And the im- 
mediate influence of his invincible mind is still deeply felt through the 
masterly productions of his pen, and will continue to be felt in th e 
advancement of the pure interests of the church, until the complete 
triumph of her principles." 

President Edwards, the last of this illustrious trio, must ever rank 
amongst the foremost defenders of the doctrines of grace. He was 
equally distinguished by the fervor of his piety, and by the expansion 

and vigor of his intellect. Simple, sincere and trustful as a christian, 
he was most acute and profound as a metaphysician and divine. To 
say nothing of the other great works which he has bequeathed to the 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 201 

world, his Inquiry into the Freedom of the Will must ever be 
considered as one of the sublimest productions of the human 
mind. 



NOTE 13 — PAGE 70. 

Guided by him of Analogic name. 
Bishop Butler was twenty years in planning and perfecting his great 
work, {! The Analogy of Religion, natural and revealed, to the consti- 
tution and course of nature." Alike remarkable for the severe sim- 
plicity and conciseness of its style, for the originality of its plan and 
execution, and for its profoundly philosophical arguments and illus- 
trations, it will ever rank amongst the highest monuments of genius . 
Meeting his infidel antagonists on their own ground, taking his* stand 
on natural principles, reasoning from the constitution and course of 
nature; from facts which are known and experienced by all men; 
he demonstrates the existence of a moral government on the part of 
the Author of nature ; and the importance, the wisdom and the ex- 
cellency of that divine scheme of religion which has been revealed to 



202 



NOTES TO THE 



man. The treatise of Butler gave a death blow to that form of infi- 
delity which reigned in his day. The world has not seen even the 
semblance of a reply; and we have long since ceased to hear the 
pratings of Deists, as to the divinity andall-sufliciency of nature. 



note 14 — page 70. 

With affluent Charnocke now we linger. 

The treatise of Stephen Charnocke on "The Existence and Attri- 
butes of God," is generally esteemed the most thorough and compre- 
hensive in the English language. As a writer he is equally remark- 
able for the originality and vigor of his thoughts, for the clearness and 
cogency of his reasoning, and for the richness and variety of his 
illustrations. 



note 15 — page 70. 



With the sublime and richly furnished Howe, 



I can only say that I have learned far more from John Howe than 



' PLEASURES OF PIETY. 203 

from any other author I ever read. There is an astounding magnifi- 
cence in his conceptions. He had not the same perception of the 
beautiful as of the sublime ; and hence his endless subdivisions. 
Still he was unquestionably the greatest of the Puritan divines." — 
Robert HaU. (See his life by Gregory, p. 70) 



note 16 — page 70. 

In Doddridge, calm, judicious, meek, we find : 

The reputation of Doddridge, as an author, rests mainly upon " The 
Family Exposition," a work rich in learning, in acute criticism, and 
in persuasive earnestness. In 1745 appeared u The Rise and Pro- 
gress of Religion in the Soul." Concerning this work one of his 
biographers remarks that it " forms a body of practical divinity and 
christian experience, which has never been surpassed by any work 
of the same nature." 



note 17 — page 71. 
With Boston we survey Man's Fourfold State. 
See this work of grace and procedure of conversion more copiously 



204 



NOTES TO THE 



displayed, in a valuable little piece entitled, "Human Nature in its 
Fourfold State." by Mr. Thomas Boston, which, in my opinion, is one 
of our best books for common readers. The sentences are short, and 
the comparisons striking ; the language is easy, and the doctrine 
evangelical ; the method proper, the plan comprehensive, the manner 
searching, yet consolatory. If another celebrated treatise is styled, 
The WJiole Duty of Man, I would call this The Whole of Man, as it 
comprises what he was, originally ; what he is, by transgression ; 
what he should be, through grace, and what he will be in glory." — 
He rvey's Dialogues, vol. i. p. 343. 



SOTK IS — PAGE 71. 

Anon, with soaring Hervey meditate. 

<; Hervey's Meditations," although severely censured by the sterner 
critics, have had an extensive circulation ; and for many years the 
press could, with difficulty, supply the demand for them. Whatever 
may be objected to them by a cold criticism, they are unquestionably 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 205 

rich in poetic fancy, in classical allusion, and in the effusions of a 
seraphic piety. 



note 19— page 71. 

God's Life in Man with Scougal now we trace. 

Henry Scougal was some time Professor of Divinity in the Univer- 
sity of Aberdeen. He died, greatly lamented, in 1678, at the early 
age of twenty-eight. "He was a writer," says Doddridge, "of 
the first rank, though he wrote but little. Every page abounds with 
noble and proper thoughts, clothed with a decent eloquence, suited 
to the subject. He appears to be the best model of all his class. His 
Life of God in the Soul of Man, and Sermons, should be often read. 
His early death, at the age of twenty-eight, was an unspeakable loss 
to the world." — Doddridge 's Led, on Preaching. 



NOTE 20 page 71. 
Or contemplate with Booth the Reign of Grace. 
Abraham Booth died on the 27tb of January, 1S06, in the seventy- 



206 



NOTES TO THE 



second year of his age. A biographer remarks concerning him, 
"that he possessed a powerful and vigorous mind, cultivated by 
intense study, enlarged and expanded by reading and reflection, and 
enriched by a copious unction from the Spirit of all grace," His 
" Reign of Grace" is a rich and evangelical exhibition of the grace 
of God reigning, through Christ, in the redemption, the sanctifica- 
tion, and the eternal glorification of the Saints. 



note 21 — page 71. 

While Baxter sings of Everlasting Rest. 

Concerning the "Saint's Everlasting Rest," Dr. Calaray remarks : 
"This is a book for which multitudes will have cause to bless God 
forever." "It was written by him," says Dr. Bates, "when lan- 
guishing in the suspense of life and death, but has the signature of his 
holy and vigorous mind. To allure our desires, he unveils the sanc- 
tuary above, and discovers the glories and joys of the blessed in the 
Divine presence, by a light so strong and lively, that all the glittering 
varieties of the world vanish in that comparison, and a sincere believer 
will despise them, as one of mature age does the toys and baubles 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



207 



of childhood. To excite our fears, he removes the screen, and makes 
the everlasting fire of hell so visible, and represents the tormenting 
passions of the damned in those dreadful colours, that, if duly con- 
sidered, would check and control the unbridled, licentious appetites 
of the most sensual wretches. " — Fatvcett's Preface, pp. 10-14. 



note 22 — page 71. 
In Fuller's manly volumes we explore . 

In the religious world there is an ever-growing appreciation of the 
writings of Andrew Fuller. One of the leading religious reviews of 
this country remarked, but a few years since, that no theological 
library is complete without his works. I must insert the following 
testimony from the elegant pen of Robert Hall: " I cannot refrain 
from expressing, in a few words, the sentiments of affectionate vene- 
ration with which I always regarded that excellent person while liv- 
ing, and cherish his memory, now that he is no more ; a man whose 
9* 



208 



NOTES TO THE 



sagacity enabled him to penetrate to the depths of every subject he 
explored, whose conceptions were so powerful and luminous, that 
what was recondite and original, appeared familiar: what was intri- 
cate, easy and perspicuous in his hands; equally successful in 
enforcing the practical, in stating the theoretical, and discussing the 
polemical branches of theology : without the advantagss of early edu- 
cation, he rose to high distinction among the religious writers of his 
day, and, in the midst of a most active and laborious life, left monu- 
ments of his piety and genius which will survive to distant poster- 
ity." "While he endeared himself to his denomination by a long 
course of most useful labor, by his excellent works on the Socinian 
and Deistical Controversies, as well as his devotion to the cause of 
missions, he laid the world under lasting obligations. ' ? — Hall's 
Works, vol. 1, p. 20. 



note 23 — page 71. 



Lo ! Chalmers in his Astronomic car, 



The "Astronomical Discourses of Chalmers abound in passages of 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 



209 



great sublimity and beauty, and afford, perhaps, the most striking 
illustrations of the splendour of his imagination, and the peculiarities 
of his eloquence. 



note 24 — page 71. 
But chiefly, Leighton, on thy page we dwell, 

The writings of Arch-Bishop Leighton are an invaluable legacy to 
the church. His spirit breathes in every line he has penned. We 
know of no uninspired compositions better adapted to promote 
humility and poverty of spirit, to impress and captivate the heart, and 
to elevate the affections to the Divine Redeemer. The writer evi- 
dently has but one object in Yiew — the spiritual good of the reader. 
The world has no place in his heart or in his eye. To him, the Cross 
has become the centre of all charms ; and the love of the Crucified 
the motive of all actions. He speaks as from the margin of eternity. 
In the near prospect of heaven, he sends forth those streams of pre- 
cious truth, which have refreshed and overflowed his own heart. 



210 



NOTES TO THE 



His thoughts are uttered with an unction and a tenderness which 
bespeak the strength of faith, and the purity of love. And as you 
read, you feel that you are conversing with one who walked with 
God. 



NOTE 25 — PAGE 74. 

But Friendship's pleasures holier heights attain. 

" Friendship founded on worldly principles is natural, and though 
composed of the best elements of nature, is not exempt from its 
mutability and frailty ; but a union founded on religion is spiritual, 
and therefore unchanging, and imperishable. The friendship which 
is founded on kindred tastes and congenial habits, apart from piety, 
is permitted by the benignity of Providence to embellish a world, 
which, with all its magnificence and beauty, will shortly pass away ; 
that which has religiou for its basis, will ere long be transplanted, in 
order to adorn the paradise of God." — HalVs Works, vol. ii. p. 196. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 211 

NOTE 26— PAGE 77. 

Near twelve months since of such a friend bereft. 

James S. Mims, late Professor of Theology in Furman University, 
who departed this life -in the Spring of 1855, in the vigour of man- 
hood, and in the meridian of his usefulness. Touching this cher- 
ished friend, we may be permitted to add, that succeeding years 
have only deepened our impressions of his excellence as a man 
and a christian, and of his worth as a friend. We still fondly cling 
to his memory, and delight to dwell on the stern simplicity of his 
character, the purity and the fervour of his piety, the extent and 
the variety of his attainments as a biblical scholar, and the unsel- 
fish generosity of his noble nature. 



note 27 — page 106. 
Forth from the streets of Nain a mournful crowd. — Lu&e vii. 11. 



212 



NOTES TO THE 



NOTE 38 — PAGE 108. 



A higher demonstration dost thou crave? — Matt, xxviii, 1, 2. 



note 29 — page 108. 



Vain toil ! As well that band might eastward run. 



" He was indeed too great a morsel for the grave to digest. For 
all its vast craving mouth, and devouring appetite : crying Sheol, give 
give: yet it was forced to give him up again. They — his enemies — 
thought all was sure, when they had rolled to the stone, and sealed 
it. That rolling of the stone to the grave, was as if they had rolled 
it towards the east in the night, to stop the rising of the sun next 
morning ; much further above all their watches and power was this 
Sun of Righteousness in his rising again." — Leighton's Wor&s, 
page 211. 



PLEASURES OF PIETY. 213 

NOTE 30— PAGE 115. 

And then my dead shall, &c. 

William Mclver Furman died on the 29th of April, 1845, aged 2 
years, 3 months, and 13 days. 

James Clement Furman died on the 17th of May, 1S55, aged 1 year 
and 26 days. 



lab to "fita %m" 



The literary history of this grand Mediaeval Hymn is full of inter- 
est. There is a rugged and massive grandeur about the original 
which can be made to appear in no translation. It is generally sup- 
posed to have been written by Thomas de Celano, about the year 
1250. Volumes have been written to illustrate it, and it has been 
translated into various languages. It has excited the interest of 
critics of all ages, and has been the subject of the researches of many 
literary antiquarians. 

We here give the original of this grand old hymn, for the benefit 
of those who may not have access to the works in which it is con- 
tained. 

10 



216 


NOTES TO DIES IRAE. 




I. 




Dies Irae ! dies ilia ! 




Sol vet Saeclum in fa villa ; 




Teste David cum Sibylla. 




II. 




Quantus tremor est futurus r 




Quando Judex est venturus, 




Cuncta striate discussurus. 




ill. 




Tuba miruni spargens sonum. 




Per sepulchra regionum, 




Coget omnes ante thronum 




IV. 




Mors stupebit, et Nat;; 




Cum resurget creatura, 




Judicanti responsuni 




• 



NOTES TO DIES IRAE. 217 

v. 

Liber scriptus proferetur, 
In quo totum continetur, 
Unde inundus judicetur. 

VI. 

Judex ergo cum sedebit, 
Quidquid latet apparebit, 
Nil inultum remanebit. 

VII. 

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus ? 
Quern patronum rogaturus, 
Cum vix Justus sit securus ? 

VIII. 

Rex tremendae majestatis ! 
Qui salvandos salvas gratis, 
Salve me, fons pietatis. 



218 NOTES TO DIES IRAE. 

IX. 

Recordare, Jesu pie, 
Quod sum causa tue viae : 
Ne me perdas ilia die. 



Querens me sedisti lassus; 
Redemisti crucem passus; 
Tantus labor non sit cassus. 

XI. 

Juste Judex ultionis, 
Donum fac remissionis, 
Ante diem rationis. 

XII. 

Ingemisco tanquam reus ; 
Culpa rubet vultus meus ; 
Supplicanti parce, Deus. 



NOTES TO DIES IRAE. 219 

XIII, 

Qui Mariam absolvisti, 
Et latroneum exaudisti, 
Mihi quoque spem dedisti. 

XIV. 

Preces meae non sunt dignae, 
Scd tu bonus fac benigne, 
Ne perenni cremer igne. 

xv. 

Inter oves locum praesta, 
Et ab haedis me sequestra, 
Statuens in parte dextra. 

XVI. 

Confutatis maledictis, 
Flammis acribus addictis, 
Voca me cum benedictis. 



220 NOTES TO DIES IRAE. 

XVII. 

Oro supplex et acclinis, 
Cor contritum quasi cinis, 
Gere curam mei finis. 

XVIII. 

Lachrymosa dies ilia. 
Qua resurget ex favilla, 
Judicandus homo reus ; 
Huic ergo parce, Deus ! 



